Just Be You
by Azoroua
Summary: Sollux is on his third high school of this school year, and it's barely November! Will he manage to stay in this new school, with new friends and new found feelings, or will his abusive father manage to separate him from the ones he loves yet again? (Humanstuck AU, rated M for violence, vulgarities, and smut)
1. Chapter 1

Your name is Sollux Captor and you absolutely fucking hate high school.  
You're at your third one this year, which happens to be classified as sophomore year. Maybe if you weren't such an asshole, you wouldn't have been expelled. Twice. Then again, if you weren't such an asshole you wouldn't be a Captor now would you? Yup, runs in the whole damn family. Your dad is such an abusive ass that your mom ditched him years ago. You think he's bipolar. He's happy one minute and punching you the next. If you actually had some friends, you'd always be at their houses. It's not like your dad would ever be sober enough to notice. He's too drunk half the time to even remember who you are. You only have two people you can consider friends, and they only know you by your handle on a chat server called Trollian. There's carcinoGeneticist, who you've declared as someone you can tell anything and everything to, and apocalypseArisen, who you know you would totally fall for if you two ever met in person. Sadly, AA lives on the other side of the country. CG, however, is a different story. He lives near you. Extremely close actually. The little fucktard and you have been debating hanging out, but not until he gets a Skype. You both have to make sure the other isn't some creepy pedophile, though you are almost positive he's not and you definitely aren't. Recently, you've been attempting to figure out what high school he goes to. You're hoping to end up there eventually. After rotating through as many schools as you have one would think you would have found him already. For now, you just pull out your phone and shoot him a text.  
_ Almo2t at the new 2chool  
REALLY? YOU SHOULD TELL ME THE FUCKING NAME ALREADY SO I KNOW WHETHER OR NOT I CAN STALK YOU.  
That'2 creepy CG.  
JUST TELL ME YOUR LOCKER NUMBER OR SOME SHIT AND WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE WEARING.  
Bada22 blue and red jacket. Locker 269.  
WAIT WHAT? THAT'S MY LOCKER...  
TA, IS YOUR FIRST NAME SOLLUX?_  
No way. You just found your online best friend. Not only do you get to go to school with him, but you get to share a locker. You wonder how many classes you might have together.  
_ What'2 up Karkat? _You laugh before sending this. Both of you knew each other's names from the principal telling you who you were sharing a locker with, yet had no clue it was each other.  
_ NO FUCKING WAY. YOU'RE THE ASSHOLE WHO I HAVE TO START SHARING MY GODDAMN LOCKER WITH?  
Haha well that'2 ju2t iironiic  
OH GOD. THIS IS GOING TO SUCK ASS. I JUST KNOW IT. _  
You laugh and this time receive an odd look from the bus driver you're sitting behind. You shove your phone in your pocket and put your backpack on as the bus pulls into school. Always being the new kid is pretty sucky, but knowing that you'll finally get to meet, uhh, you guess you should just call him KK in your usual nickname fashion, makes going to this shit pile almost bearable.  
Heading straight for the office first, you grab a map and make a mental note of how to get to your new locker from where the bus pulls in. As you reach the floor-to-chest height lockers, you notice a short guy, with extremely wild black hair, trying to unlock it. You refrain from laughing as you notice his head barely reaches the top of the locker, and that's with his untamed hair. You walk up and grab the lock out of his hands. Before he can react to you, you quickly spin in the easy combination of 18-3-22.  
"Why the fuck are you so goddamn tall?"  
You chuckle as you finally look down at him. "What's up short stuff? Oh. Wait. I can see that better than you, now can't I?"  
"Wow you really have that shitty lisp?"  
"Wow you really use vulgarities in every sentence?"  
"Touché, Mr. Captor, fucking touché."  
You roll your eyes. "Don't call me Mr. Captor." His eyebrows rise apologetically as you just shove three textbooks into your newly shared locker. He watches as you carefully place a piece of raw looking hardware on a shelf inside before shutting the door and locking it. He gives you a questioning look and you answer it before he makes a sound. "Laptop that I built. If you want I could make the lock electronic so you could open it with your phone."  
"Fucking nerds. No wonder AA and I are your only friends. You-"  
You interrupt his insults to be a smart ass and mention that, "You forgot to swear there, KK."  
"Shut the fuck- wait what? 'KK?'"  
"Yeah. KK. You know, **K**-a-r-**k**-a-t. It's a nickname. Get used to it." You decide you are definitely going to sync that lock with your phone, not to mention change the combo.  
"Fine, whatever, show me your schedule already bitch." You laugh as you hand it over. "So I have perfectly every other fucking class with you. First, third, and fifth. Hope you don't collapse or some shit in the classes where you'll miss me."  
"Fuck you." You laugh along with the grabbing of your schedule from Karkat that just ensued.  
"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" he reaches for it and you hold it above your head, receiving a glare. "Oh that is just fucking **cruel.**" You laugh again as he leads you to your first period class.


	2. Chapter 2

There are three amazing parts of your first period class.  
First, it's computer programming. Second, the teacher lets you sit by Karkat. And third, but definitely the best part, he absolutely sucks at "that shit." The entire period was filled with you holding back laughter at his outbursts against the unresponsive program he was working on. And a little bit of your teacher, Mr. Wells, having **you** help **him** with a program of his own. To you, it was amazing. KK disagrees; you tell him he's an ass. He calls you a fucktard. So far, you like this school. But of course, second period comes around and fucks up your day.  
You have chemistry second period. You hate chemistry. You know everything about it already, being the nerd you are and everything. It makes it the worst class for you. And, of course, Mr. Joans paired you with the worst student. Apparently hipsters don't know how to study anymore. This little weasel you're sitting by has gelled back light brown hair with a platinum blonde streak up it. For the first fifteen minutes of class, all he does is pass notes with the tan girl who sits in front of you two. Her long black hair spins and twirls as she does the same in her seat to hand him the note and then grab it back. Eventually, you get irritated with this and snatch the note out of the air when she throws it at him. "Thanks," you mutter so the watchful Mr. Joans believes it to be on topic notes. You pocket the paper. The hipster then insists he gets it back by jabbing your leg with a pencil. He has no clue that you've been through **much** worse without making a sound. The attractive girl in front of you just grabs out a piece of paper, and it starts again. You rub your mismatched eyes behind the shades you've been wearing all morning. The teachers don't yell at you because they are aware of the large scar that crosses over your right eye, the brown one that sometimes shines red. Your left eye is a bright shining blue color. This asshole hipster is not aware of any of this as he yanks the shades off your face and puts them on, causing the girl to stifle a laugh. Your right hand is now over the same eye you want no one to see. You face him and hold out your hand.  
"Give those back," you're whispering, but it's a vicious sound laced with anger.  
"Give me back my note." You shrug and turn back to facing the front of the room where Mr. Joans stands. His jaw drops and it becomes apparent just how stupid he really is. He totally expected that to work. "Fine. Here." He sets the shades on the table in front of you and you manage to put them on without showing off your scar. Eventually, you'll bear it in public. But that'll only happen when you lose your contacts and are forced to wear glasses again. "I'm Eridan, by the way."  
"And I'm Feferi!~" Even though she was also whispering, her tone was ecstatic.  
You roll your eyes. "Sollux."  
Eridan and Feferi grin, hers wider and more charming. "Oh, we know!~" she adds in.  
"Well that sure doesn't sound creepy."  
Eridan chuckles, "We know because we own this school. You should feel privileged right now. You're talking to the two most popular kids in this place." You roll your eyes again, realizing it's a gesture they can't see.  
"Privileged. Got it. I'll give that a try sometime."  
Feferi giggles. "I like him," she tells the boy sitting next to you. "He's funny." Eridan's response is to roll is eyes. "Oh come on, Eribear! Can he puh-weeease sit with us at lunch?"  
"Who said I wanted to?"  
The question actually shocked them. You mean complete, undeniable, shock. As if they've never heard anything like that before, which you assume they probably haven't. Feferi quickly puts on another smile to cover her surprise, but Eridan became irritated. "Are you serious? The popular group wants you, the new kid, to sit with us at lunch and **that's** what comes out of your mouth?"  
"I don't like preps."  
"Oh you did not just call us preps."  
You rub at your scarred eye again. "Pretty sure I did."  
Just as the hipster is about to throw out a comeback, Mr. Joans speaks up. "Eridan Ampora. Are you bothering Mr. Captor here?" You kind of wince when he calls you that. You aren't Mr. Captor. Mr. Captor is the man you avoid at all costs. Mr. Captor is the man who comes home drunk to beat you. Mr. Captor is the man who put the scar you were rubbing at on your face. You slouch lower in your seat. "Sollux, would you like to move?"  
"No thanks, Mr. Joans. I'm fine here. He wasn't bothering me, he was just asking for a pencil because his broke." You come up with the lie, though it was an easy excuse, so quickly that Eridan is surprised. You don't even know why you just protected his ass. Apparently Eridan didn't expect you to either. The teacher just frowns and goes back to the lesson you already know.  
"Uhh... Thanks... I guess..." You just nod in response. "Why did you, like, cringe, when he called you Mr. Captor I mean?" You don't make any motion to show that you even heard him, at least that he can see. Instead you glare ahead at the whiteboard as Mr. Joans draws some kind of chemical composition for an example. Your glad you have your shades. "Fine, I won't pry. If you want to, you're definitely welcome to sit at our table at lunch." You nod again. You would have spoken, but you don't trust your voice right now. The memory of how you got your scar crossed your mind and you feel choked up, like you can barely breathe. You try to ignore the feeling. You fail in hiding your distress when you release a breath that is shaky enough for Eridan to notice. Now you and him are passing notes.  
_are you okay?  
not really  
whats wrong?  
like id ever tell you  
hey im just tryin to be fuckin nice here  
yeah well flirt with your girlfriend not me  
she isnt my girlfriend. shes my step-sister. im...  
what?  
im gay.  
wow, is it bad that i totally expected that?  
hey thanks.  
anytime  
wow so youre a sarcastic douche now arent you?  
yup cant believe it took you this long to figure that out  
asshole_  
You smile before pocketing this note as well, and making sure to grab the other note between him and Feferi. You decide to give them nicknames as well. FF and ED. You think Eridan's is funny because it spells Ed, but you don't care. ED then proceeds to jab you with a pencil relentlessly this time and you just smirk and stare straight ahead. He really wants his notes back, but he is never going to get them.  
There are now five minutes left in class and Mr. Joans tells you all to pack up. You shove your science journal in your backpack and shove it on your back as you stand up. ED then proceeds to tell you his classes for the rest of the day, which he has only the first one you say with FF. "So you've got fourth, fifth, and sixth with me as well? Gogdammit."  
"What was that? 'Oh joyous day?' I think I heard something like cheering there, Sol."  
"Wow. I already hate that nickname. That was fast."  
FF laughs at you two before hugging ED and heading to the opposite door as the bell rings. You and Eridan head in opposite directions down this vast hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

In third period you asked Karkat all about Eridan and Feferi. Yes, they're popular. Yes, they're step-siblings. Yes, Eridan is gay. No, you shouldn't sit with them at lunch. You ask him why not. He just shakes his head and goes back to listening to your social studies teacher whose name you never caught. You sigh and go back to writing down codes and combinations you could use to fuck with the locker for KK. You had to think of something to do and that seemed like the best idea. You were a whole chapter ahead of this in your last school, so you can just zone out. You're a straight A student, which causes your dad to constantly wonder how you manage to get kicked out of so many schools. But this school is different. This school feels safer with KK by your side as your best friend and ED to fuck with because it's hilarious. You hope you get to stay in this school, and don't get yourself get expelled like before when you didn't care at all. Okay, you really did care. Just about other things than the school and it's teachings.

Suddenly you hear the teacher ask a question and end it with, "Sollux Captor, do you know the answer?" You glance down at the textbook to see where everyone else is at and KK gives you a worried look. That's all you need to know that this teacher is a bitch to those who aren't paying attention. You answer her question flawlessly, your cheek resting on your palm as you speak. Suddenly she acknowledges your sunglasses and asks you to "Take those off before I send you to the principal's office." You mention that he's the one who said you could wear them. She asks why. You say it's none of her business, she should ask the principal in private instead of you in front of an entire class. She demands you take them off and you tell her to fuck off. She chastises you for your language and says to take them off now. You finally do and the entire class, which was staring at you, gasps when they see the large scar over your brown eye.

"You happy now?" She doesn't answer you, and instead tells you to hand over your sunglasses, your parents will have to pick them up later. "Parent."

"What?"

"You said parents. It's parent. Singular. I've only got one."

"Sollux Captor, shut your mouth and start listening to your teachers."

"I would listen if I didn't already know this entire chapter. My old school was ahead of you guys."

"Ah, yes. Your old school. The one you got expelled from for getting in a fight with another boy."

"Actually, to be completely punctual about every little detail that you are being completely unprofessional about and mentioning in front of a whole class without asking my permission first, I hospitalized some asshole for trying to beat the living shit out of a little quiet kid who could do nothing to protect himself because he was too afraid." You shoot her a "World's Biggest Smartass" prize worthy smile and she tells you that you have detention. "For what? Not wanting to show off a scar that contains painful memories to everyone else in the world? Or for giving everyone else all the facts after you attempted to make them think of me as a bully?" She gasps in alarm at your accusations and you stand up to lean over your desk and snatch your glasses from her hands. "Thanks." You put them on and sit back down and she blushes in shame at the fact that a student just beat her in her own class.

"Sollux Captor, get out of my classroom."

You smile happily and stand before bowing to her. "With pleasure." You pick up your backpack and shove your arms through the straps. Your hands are jammed in your pockets and there's a smirk on your face as you walk out the door. You head to the library because there are computers and you have absolutely nothing fucking better to do for the next half hour of third period. You enter the library and notice something that makes you laugh quietly. Eridan, at a computer typing something for whatever class he was in, well at least he was until his computer froze. He looks like he's freaking out. He must not have saved it recently. You frown and walk up behind him silently. You reach your arms out over his shoulders and start typing a code in to fix his issue. He looks up at you with surprised eyes.

"Sol? What are you doing here?"

"Well I was going to screw around with my social studies teacher's email but now I guess I'm fixing your computer."

"Who do you have for social studies?" He turns back to the computer and watches your fingers fly over the keys. You set your chin on the top of his head.

"Stop moving your head. I can't see when you do that and might miss a key idiot."

"S-Sorry…" Woah. Why did he stutter? Was he- Was Eridan Ampora, the most popular boy in school, embarrassed to have a nerd resting his chin on top of his head and leaning over him? You smirk at this and realize you can feel the heat from his apparently blushing face on your arms where your sleeves are rolled up.

"I didn't catch her name, but I think I'm going to nickname her Bitchzilla."

"O-Oh. So you've got Mrs. Zayne. Yeah, she isn't a pretty picture."

"Nope. It was pathetic. I beat her at her own game."

"What do you m-mean?" He tries to look up at you and then remembers he isn't supposed to move his head and instead stays still.

"I basically shamed her for making me take off my shades and then trying to make me look like a jackass in front of the whole class. And then she told me to get out of her classroom so I stood up and bowed to her, added in a snide remark, and came here." You finish the code, hit enter, and suddenly Eridan's computer is fixed. He looks relieved.

"Wow. I didn't know you could do that." You move and sit in the chair next to him. "Wait. Your sunglasses? What's wrong with taking those off? And speaking of that… Why did you cover your right eye when I stole them earlier? Sorry about that, by the way." He's looking at you curiously and you sigh before taking your shades off. "Woah. That's a nasty scar you got there."

"Exactly. That's why I was wearing these. But now I guess there's no point, people are going to spread it around anyways." You pocket the glasses and boot up your own computer. "I really want to fuck with her now, as if I didn't enough already in class."

"What time is it?" You point to the clock in the bottom right screen of his monitor. "Wow. I'm dumb. Anyways, she's going to put up a PowerPoint soon. You could fuck with that I guess?" He shrugs.

You smile. "Sounds perfect."


	4. Chapter 4

You have first lunch. First lunch starts right after third period. Because Karkat and you have different fourth periods, you also have different lunches. But you have fourth period with Eridan and Feferi. You decide to sit with them even though KK had advised against it. It's not like he ever bothered to give you a reason. You walk over to the table and sit next to Eridan who smiles at you before continuing his conversation with FF about shoes. "Oh gog. Don't sit there and just talk about shoes all lunch. I'd rather just not eat and go to the library then." Your lisp shown through brilliantly and they quickly change the topic to how cute it is.

"Ohmyglob, Eridan, did you hear that? That was the CUTEST lisp ever!" Feferi is smiling at you but you just shove your palm to your forehead.

"Oh cod yeah it was! I didn't even notice your lisp earlier, Sol!" You just shake your head, eyes closed as you take a bite of your chicken burger.

"Hey guys! What are you talking about?" A kid with buck teeth, bright blue eyes, and somewhat shaggy black hair joined the table.

"Oh, hey John!~" Feferi greeted him loudly and you felt your headache quickly setting in. "This is Sollux!~" she motions to you as she says your name and you give him a two fingered wave, now refusing to talk due to the subject at hand. "We're talking about how ADORABLE~ his lisp is!"

"Really? I wanna hear!" John seems nice but you just shake your head and smirk as you take another bite. Then you feel the small ¾ sized gage in your right ear being slightly tugged and it hurts.

"Ow. Ow. Ow- Come on Eridan let go!"

"Not until you start saying 's' words for John to hear."

"Gog dammit. Fine. I'll start speaking normally even though I fucking hate my lisp which I can't even say because of the damn thing." John grins huge and gets a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

"That. Was so cute."

"No. Ew. Stop it. You guys are freaking me out now. It's not cute. It's irritating." You sigh as Feferi and the other two continue babbling about how lovable they think it is. Then you hear a question pointed to you from Eridan.

"Sol, your hair looks soft. Can I pet it?"

"Uhh, no?" You give him a look like he's crazy and then he reaches his hand out and starts petting you anyways. "And apparently my opinion means nothing to you."

"Yes, exactly. Especially because your hair is like **extremely** soft." You didn't mention how the feel of his hand in your hair gave you butterflies, nor did you understand quite why. You also didn't mention how no one has said anything about your scar yet. You were just silently grateful they hadn't. Eridan is still petting you when he says, "Oh hey look! It's Tavros!"

Tavros.

You recognize that name.

You recognize that name, because he was the kid you had saved before you got expelled at the last school.

"Tavros? Like Tavros Nitram?" You look up to see that yes, it is the Tavros you know. You knock Eridan's hand away before getting up and walking over to Tavros, who you hug gently and he hugs you back as well. "Hey little bro, how you been?" You both walk over to the table where he now sits across from you, where John had scooted down from to make room.

"Pretty, uhh, pretty g-good I guess. I still, uhh, I still d-don't know how to th-thank you for saving me b-before." He looks up at you from where he was staring at the table with wide, thankful, eyes.

"It's no problem, TV. That asshole got what he deserved. So why are you at this school now?" Everyone at the table seemed to have gone quiet. You hadn't been so happy to see anyone all day. You hadn't smiled this long all day. You were glad to see the boy you saved was still doing fine. You were ecstatic to know that someone from your previous schools was still around. And it showed.

"My, uhh, my mom… Sh-she wanted me to g-go to a safer, uhh, a safer school." You smile. _With me around, you'll definitely be safer,_ was the only thought that crossed your mind. You were always fond of this Mohawk wearing shortty. He was helpless, and you loved to be the one to help him. He had slightly tanner skin than you, similar to Feferi's but not as dark. He was just a sweet little freshman that everyone picked on. He reminded you too much of yourself last year, and how you had always wished that one of the older kids would help you out. That's when you started fighting them back. So you could be the one to give help, not to need it.

Eridan nudged you with his elbow. "So you two know each other?"

"Yeah. I saved him from this jerky kid last year. That's why I got expelled. The asshole ended up in the hospital."

You receive grins from the three who were at the table before Tavros. "So you kicked his ass to help Tavvy here?" John is the one who asks you. You laugh and nod, muttering a "Yeah, I guess I did."

"That is so SWEET!~" Feferi smiles so huge, you think her lips are about to fall off.

"Yeah, Sol. We didn't know you were such a sap!" Eridan meant it kindly, which you understood but still had to get back at him for.

"Oh? Well I didn't know you were so shitty with computers there, ED." You continue throwing insults back and forth with Eridan, which includes him randomly petting you and grinning over how soft your hair is, until lunch is over and you head to fourth period.

You spend fourth period, English, doing absolutely nothing but passing notes with ED and FF. Fifth period comes by and you grab your hand made laptop from your locker before heading to class. Fifth period, P.E., is spent trying to get KK and ED to stop fighting with each other because your headache is growing. Then sixth period, Math, rolls around and you find a seat directly behind ED. You keep shoving things in the hood of his purple and blue striped hoodie, causing him to stomp on the foot you have shoved under his desk. Eventually you toss a paper over his shoulder with your phone number, and your Trollian. He tosses one back with the same, and a question asking if you wanted to hang out some time. You grin, and whisper in his ear, "Yeah sure. Text me the details." Your close proximity and breath in his ear caused him to turn bright crimson, which makes you snicker.

You were going to enjoy this school.


	5. Chapter 5

You arrive home to an empty house, as expected.

Your bus ride home was spent texting KK and laughing over the way ED types. Just like KK's shift key and your i key, ED's v and w keys stick. Your s key also just doesn't work, so you used 2's instead. The stupidest part about all of it, is that the same thing happened to all of your computer keyboards. You think it's sad.

Not as sad as your house though. You grab a soda from the meager fridge and run, literally run, upstairs to your room as you hear your dad's car pull into the driveway and his door slam. He's drunk. And pissed about something. You quickly send ED and KK the same text.

_What'2 your addre22?_

ED texts back sooner, and lives closer, so you type as well as you can while climbing out your bedroom window that,

_Ii'm comiing over._

_Wwhat? Wwhen?_

_Riight fuckiing now ii cant bee iin thii2 hou2e at the moment 2ee you iin a 2ec_

If you weren't in such a hurry to climb down the rope you've permanently installed by your window, you would have laughed at your "bee" typo. But instead you just wait for your dad to go inside before hopping on your yellow bike and peddling as fast as you could, with a huge backpack still on and a soda in the outside pocket of it, to Eridan's house. You reach the 3 story building in minutes and shove your bike by the side near the garage before knocking on the door.

"Wow. That was fast." He ushers you inside and you push out a "thanks" with some of your panting breaths. "Why were you in such a rush? Cod, Sol, you're like covered in sweat."

"Trust me," you pant a bit more before continuing, "I noticed."

He arches his eyebrows in concern. "You wanna take a shower and borrow some clothes then?"

You smirk. "That would be a nice change of pace." He laughs gently at you, though obviously still a bit worried.

He leads you upstairs, all the way to the third floor, and stops by a room with a picture of a cuttlefish on the door. "Hey, Fef. Sol's here. Don't ask why, I don't know myself. He's goin' to take a shower real quick so don't try and use the bathroom, kay?"

"Sollux?~" She opens her door and sees you covered in sweat. She frowns, "You are so telling us what happened once you're cleaned up." You look away, upset at having to run from your own home to the home of a boy and girl you just met today. They don't seem to mind much though, which you guess is helpful. Eridan then proceeds to lead you to his own room, where he grabs you some sweats and a comfy looking band tee. He hands them to you and sets your backpack on his bed before showing you the bathroom and telling you how to work the shower. You thank him maybe three times before entering the room and stripping down. You take a very quick shower, you hate showering in other people's houses, and towel off before getting dressed. Your hair is a complete mess after you dried is as well as humanly possible with your towel, but you could care less. You are extremely thankful Eridan gave you sweats instead of anything shorter. You have more scars on your legs and torso than anyone, not even KK, needs to know exist. When you open the door, ED is leaning on the other side of the hallway waiting for you.

"So who were you running from?"

"None of your business."

"I think it is."

"And why is that?"

"You ran to **_my_** house." He had you there. You just shook your head and looked away from him as he attempted to stare you down. "Fine. Don't tell me. I hate people who pry, so I won't join them. But eventually, I would expect you to spill your guts." Eridan sighed. The sound was filled with a caring emotion, but also an exasperated one. "I hate to ask you to help me again," you perk up and look at him, "but my computer's being a bitch and you fixed that one at school so I was wondering if you could-"

You laugh. "Show me the patient, Nurse Ampora." He rolls his eyes but grabs your wrist and pulls you towards his room. You glance down at the contact, noticing the quiet warmth of his fingers around your bruised wrist. You're amazed in the fact that not only does it not hurt because of how gentle Eridan is being, but that he saw it and never spoke up. You silently pray that he won't mention it. When you reach his room, he immediately points you in the direction of his computer… but Eridan is hesitant to drop your wrist. He pulls it up and looks at the bruise.

"How did you get this…?" he gently brushes his fingers over the mark.

"I don't remember. I bump into things quite a bit. Probably hit it on the railing going down the stairs at my house at some point." He looks up at you.

"You're lying."

What?

How could he know that?

You wonder how smart this boy really is as he gently drops your arm and takes off his thick rimmed hipster glasses to wipe off a dirty lens. You head to his computer and sit down in the leather chair at the desk. You spin it around and face your new challenge, though this shouldn't be difficult at all. Eridan explains what it's been doing and you laugh. He gives you a confused look. "I know what happened, mainly because I did it." He shoots you a scowl.

"What?"

"I'm not just a programmer, I'm a hacker. I must have hacked you at some point and set up a virus. Here, watch this." You type in a code of fifteen letters and seven numbers and a box pops up on the screen. You click the off button, and then delete the program. "My handiwork, I apologize." He flicks the base of your neck just before you stand up. "Hey, thanks for that."

"Okay, I know I said I wouldn't pry-" you groan, "but I really think you should tell Fef and I, or even just me, what happened."

"My dad happened. As usual. Just this time, I heard him coming and had somewhere to run to." Eridan looks shocked and confused. You release a bitter laugh. You guess you should tell him. He is right, you did run to his house to hide. You owe him the benefit of at least knowing why. "This scar?" you point towards your damaged eyelid and brow, "Courtesy of my alcoholic father." His eyes widen as he catches on quickly. "Yeah, that's why I hate being called Mr. Captor, in case you were about to ask." He was too, and you knew it.

"S-Sol… I… I'm so sorry…" He looks concerned again.

"Yeah, save it. I heard that enough when he tried being sober and sent me to a counselor for a week straight. The night he didn't let me go was the night he got drunk again and broke my fucking arm." You turn and just kind of lay back on Eridan's bed. "Can I just… I don't know, die here? At least then he wouldn't find my body…" You're now being pulled by an arm until you're sitting up, which is when Eridan hugs you. You entire body freezes. You've hugged people before, sure. But this wasn't just another "Hey, we're friends!" hug. This had a whole different meaning to it. It meant "I'm sorry you have to go through that, and I'm here for you." You just met this idiot today, and yet you can't help but feel like you've known him for years. You wonder if he feels the same way as you wrap a single arm around him to hug him back. Your other arm is trapped underneath Eridan's torso."You're killing my arm there, ED."

He pulls back. "Oops. Sorry." You make a half hearted smile and he grabs a hold of your hand, squeezing the fingers gently. "I'll be right back." He releases you and just before he opens the door he makes sure to ask, "Do you want me to tell Fef or not?"

"Not really, no."

"Okay. Be right back!~" You can hear him running down the top flight of stairs. You lay back on his bed, taking in the soft ocean like smell of his pillow. You notice something flowery in the smell as well, and barely realize the fact that you fall asleep. Eridan shakes you gently. "Soooool~ Oh, sleepy-head-solluuuuux~" You open your eyes and look around.

"Wow. I actually fell asleep."

"Yup. It's okay, you're cute when you're asleep." He grins as you playfully punch at his arm. "Anyways," you remember he had gone downstairs for something, "here, try this." He holds out some kind of pastry. You look up at him and he smirks, "Yes, you really do have to try it." With a shrug, you grab the pastry from him a take a bite. It has a slight vanilla flavor, but leans more towards honey. He raises his eyebrows in a question, "Well?"

"How'd you know I like honey?"

ED grins. "I took a guess."

"That's a pretty damn spot on guess, this thing is delicious." You take another bite and smirk as you see his eyes light up.

"You really think so?" You nod. "Yes!" You give him a confused look and before you can even ask, he mentions that "I designed that myself. It's my own little creation!" You laugh. "What?"

"So I'm a test dummy now?" You both laugh at this.

"Why yes, Sol, I believe I have officially deemed you as my test dummy for new foods." He grins, but then it fades as he looks up at you. "So do you need to spend the night?" You ponder it before shaking your head no.

"No. My dad will pass out around seven, so then I can go back home."

"Are you sure he won't wake up?" That honest concern fills his voice again. You never knew anyone could be this caring to someone they just met only a few hours ago.

"If he does, I'll sneak back out and run over here again. If he still sounds drunk that is. He's fine when he's sober, that just doesn't happen often." You finish the sentence quickly as you hear someone walking down the hall towards you. They knock on the door and Eridan tells them to come in.

The door swings open to reveal a smiling Feferi. "Hi Sollux!~" You grin and say "Hey," rather quietly. She gives Eridan a look and he just nods. "D'aaaaw so I don't get to know?"

"Nope." Eridan frowns apologetically.

"You don't want to." You pull your knees up to your chest and set your chin on them.

"That bad then? Okay. I'll just be content in knowing you at least told Eridan.~" She smiles per the norm. "By the way, Mom wants to meet you Sollux!" She coughs and mutters something. Eridan gives her a worried look. She raises her eyebrows in an apology. "Well… I had to think of **something** to tell her for why you're here and well…" Eridan's eyes widen.

"You. Didn't."

"I'm sorry! I couldn't think of anything else!"

You just look up at them, confused. "Uhh… What?"

"I…" she blushes profusely, "I kinda told Mom that you two are dating so she'd leave you alone…"

You shove your palm to your forehead. "Wow. Thanks FF. That was such a wonderful idea you had there." You speak fluent sarcasm.

"Reely, Fef? You couldn't think of **anything** else to tell her?!" Eridan is also turning crimson. You sigh and stand up. He's shocked as you entwine your fingers with his. "S-Sol?"

"Might as well just play it off, right? Let's go." Eridan's confused, but is more than just embarrassed of the fact that you don't seem to mind too much. Inside, you're really fuming. You're pansexual so it's not like you really care about what FF came up with. You're annoyed over the fact that you think his face is adorable when it's dark red with blush. You're annoyed over the fact that grabbing his hand made your insides twist.

Eridan leads you downstairs, your hand still in his. He's nervous to even act as though you two are dating. You guess his mother hasn't seen him with a boyfriend before, though she obviously knows he's gay. He's holding onto you as tight as he can for support, so you gently squeeze his hand back as a reassurance.

You have a feeling this is going to be interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you are extremely fucking nervous right now.

Your genius of a step-sister just told your mom that you're dating Sollux, the boy you just met today. You do happen to think he's pretty damn attractive and all, but you barely know him. You don't date people you barely know. You already learned that lesson. If it weren't for the fact that Fef had already spouted the lie, you wouldn't even bother to pretend. Instead, you let your nerves wrack you as you walk down the stairs. Your mom is quite understanding, and very kind, about the fact that you're gay, but she's never seen you with a boyfriend before. That probably has to do with the fact that you haven't managed to have one long enough to bother mentioning them. You're shakily gripping onto Sol's hand for some kind of comfort in this situation, and you feel him gently squeeze back to fulfill that need. He seems much more relaxed with this. Like he's done it a hundred and one times and this is just another day on the job. You question his at ease demeanor, which makes you question your new friend's sexuality as well. You doubt he could be gay, though bi or pan could easily fit him. For now, when you can't exactly ask him, you just decide to pretend you've known him for months. You decide to act as though you really are dating him, and have been for a few weeks now. Then your mom comes into view and you get nervous again.

"I take it you're the boy who's dating my son?" She doesn't smile, which worries you.

But Sollux smiles. "Yeah, that's me. I'm Sollux Captor." He holds out his left hand, the one you aren't holding on to for dear life, and adds in as your mother shakes it, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He's decided to act as though you've been dating for weeks, and he's been told all about you. That works for you.

She grins now, it puts you more at ease. "The pleasure is mine, though I haven't quite been told about you." She eyes you, but it's not an angry look. "You can call me Cecile, Mrs. Ampora, or even Mom for all I care." That's one of the things you love about your mom. She automatically accepts everyone, even if they are supposedly dating her son. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Sollux is good at faking smiles. Or at least you think he's faking, until you see that his eyes are lit up as well. Now that you're thinking of him as a "boyfriend" you seem to notice the smaller details about him. Like the fact that his scar doesn't stop his eyes from squinting softly with every true smile he shows. Or that the blue one is such a deep color, like the ocean almost, and the brown eye seems to shine somewhat red. You wonder if he wears contacts to get those colors. Then, when he responds to your mother with an "I'd love to," you notice the way he tries to carefully walk around his lisp. More than that, you notice the smooth way his lips move, and his words connect. Suddenly you're shocked back into reality when your mom asks you a question.

"So Eridan," she's walking towards the kitchen and you, Sol, and Fef all follow before taking seats at the dining room table. "How did Sollux and you meet?" she's smiling very gently, so you know she truly would like to know and isn't just humoring you. Sollux drops your hand and rests his arms on the table before looking at you and waiting for a response.

"Chem class."

"Really?" she smiles, "That's kind of ironic, don't you think?"

You smile, suddenly feeling calm again. "Yeah… He's got an A, so Mr. Joans paired him with me to help my grade."

She snickers, "Aren't you failing in Chemistry?"

"Maybe…" You chuckle.

"But I'm going to help him fix that." Sollux smiles at you before shooting the same to your mom.

Feferi giggles. "Good luck with that!~ Eridan is a tough little flounder!"

You scoff. "A flounder? What happened to me being a shark?"

Sollux laughs at you. "Sorry, hun, but I don't think that ever happened. You're more liiiike…" he ponders his options as you blush at the word "hun" being used, "A stingray." He nods. "Yeah, definitely a stingray."

"Oh?" Your face is still pink. "And why am I a stingray?"

He grins huge, and you know he's really having fun with this pretending to date thing. "Because," he pauses, "you're cute, and sometimes shy, but you can also kill a man with one jab of your tail." He winks at you and you feel your entire face light up cherry red.

Fef giggles again. "D'aaaaw, Eridan!~ You're blushing!~ That's so CUTE!~"

You give Sol a slight glare as he smirks at his handiwork, your blushing face.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so red, Eridan." Your mom is grinning too. She sets plates of food in front of Sollux and Feferi, and then she heads back into the kitchen for your plate and her own. Your step-dad isn't home from work yet. He probably won't be for another hour or so.

"Thanks, Mom." She sets your food in front of you, but knows that isn't why you thanked her. "I reely appreciate it."

"Well of course, son. Anytime." She smirks.

Sollux laughs, "Wow, ED. I love your mom already. She teases you as much as I do." He gives you an evil grin, and you worry that he'll continue this ruse at school. Then you just take a bite of your food.

All four of you eat loudly, but it's not your chewing that's loud. It's your teasing and laughing at each other. You don't think you've had this much fun during dinner in a long time. Then again, you haven't really bothered to eat with your family in a long time. Sollux and you help your mom with the dishes. Fef would have helped you, but she had to go finish an essay for her social studies class. Once you all finish the dishes, Sol and you head back upstairs to your room, hand in hand. You decide you could get used to this. It would only be at your house, so it's not that bad. You enter your room and shut the door behind you as Sol sits on your bed.

When you turn to face him, he starts laughing. "That was hilarious!"

"A stingray? Really?" You laugh as well.

"Hey, it sold our story didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." You smirk.

"Hey, if we're fake-dating, does that mean we have to have a fake-break up?" You both laugh hysterically at this.

"Wait, wait, wait. Wouldn't I have to like, act all depressed then?" You give him a look of intrigue.

"Well, yeah I guess."

"Then sorry, hun, but we ain't breakin' up any time soon!~" You both laugh again. "Okay, okay, wait up. I got a serious question for ya." He looks at you expectantly. "Why were you so cool with pretending we're dating?"

He coughs, "Yup, knew that one was coming." You frown and he rolls his eyes. "Because I've done that before. Like with an actual boyfriend I had. I'm pansexual, Eridan."

You grin, "I so called it."

"What?"

"I knew you weren't gay, or straight. So I guessed pan. I so called it."

He chuckles at you. "Yeah, okay, whatever. What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean. I can leave in a half hour. My dad will be out like a light. So how are we going to pull off a goodbye? Like, a 'yeah we're totally dating, I'm going to miss you' kind of goodbye?" The only idea you get makes you blush, and he smirks. "You totally just imagined kissing me."

You blush even more. "I did not!"

"Liar." He's laughing at you. "ED, I'd be fine with that. It's not like it would really mean anything, so who cares?"

"O-Okay. Sure. So a goodbye kiss. Got it."

You hear him chuckle, and then suddenly his warm lips are on yours. His arm on your shoulder isn't holding you in place, but it's there. Your eyes go wide, but you don't pull away. He pulls back slowly. "See? It's just a kiss, ED." All you can think is that it didn't feel like "just a kiss" to you. You don't mention that thought as you punch his arm.

"A little warning would be nice!" He laughs.

"So do I kiss better or worse then you imagined?" He elbows you teasingly. "Come on, tell me." You just glare at him. Your face is heating up. You have a feeling he enjoys that look on you. "Come on, ED. I know you imagined it. So tell me, better or worse?"

You frown as you admit, "Better."

Sollux grins and laughs. "Ha! I knew you imagined it!"

You glare at him, "Yeah, yeah, shut up." He teases you for another half hour and then mentions that he should get going, he'll give back your clothes tomorrow at school. You mentally prep yourself for what's going to happen at the door. You can't seem shocked or your mom might catch on. Sollux grabs his backpack and you lead him downstairs, hand in hand yet again. At least until you reach the door and open it.

He walks halfway out before turning around and kissing you softly, that hand on your shoulder again. The only difference from before is you kiss him back this time. He seems somewhat surprised at this, but doesn't let it show too much. He pulls back and mentions that he'll "See you tomorrow at school, ED."

You hope he won't continue this act at school.

You hope his dad doesn't wake up.


	7. Chapter 7

Your name is Sollux Captor and you can't believe you just acted like you were dating Eridan. And then kissed him twice.

You would have to think about that later though, because you just reached your house and have to focus on climbing in through your window without your dad hearing you. He's not asleep. That's new. You didn't expect that. You debate just waiting outside until he passes out. You decide against it. Slowly, you start climbing up your escape-rope. You reach your second-story bedroom window in no time and roll in, barely making a sound when you land on the floor.

You almost scream when you're picked up by the collar of your shirt and thrown into a wall.

"Where the fuck were you?!" Your father's breath reeks of alcohol.

"A friend's house…"

"Why didn't you leave a note saying you were going over?! Why didn't you call me and tell me where you were?!"

"I didn't come home first… My cell died…" You want to fade away into the wall. To disappear into your surroundings. You would if it was possible, but it's not.

"Liar! A soda was missing! You came home first!" Fuck. That soda you grabbed, the one you forgot was in your backpack, just screwed you over.

"I grabbed that this morning on my way out the door…"

"You little fucking liar!" You wish your father wasn't a drunk. You wish you didn't have this life. You wish you could live with Eridan and Feferi, or even with Karkat. You wish your older brother, Mituna, hadn't moved out three years ago. That's when all of this shit started happening. You wish someone could come save you, but no one knew you were in danger. "I left after you this morning, Sollux! I know what was in the fridge!"

"Maybe you counted wrong." As soon as that is off your lips, you know you just sealed your fate.

"My own son does not question me in my own house." He sounds calm, but you know he's not. You know what's about to happen.

He starts with a punch to your diaphragm, knocking the wind out of you, then a knee to your face when you bend over to clutch your stomach. You fall over, knowing that the sooner you at least act like you've passed out, the sooner he'll stop. He starts kicking your side, then sends a foot into your face as well. You cough up only a small amount of blood, but enough for him to notice as you slowly fade in and out of consciousness.

Suddenly he's your dad again.

Suddenly he cares.

Suddenly he can't believe what he's done.

Suddenly he's so sorry.

Suddenly he makes you sick. Literally sick to your stomach. You barely manage to get up and run to the bathroom. You lock the door before almost collapsing over the toilet. You cough up the dinner Eridan's mother had so kindly made you, along with a good amount of blood from your father's kicks. You feel the bruises on your side and your left cheek and chin area already setting in. They burn as you empty your stomach. You can't help but feel sorry for your father, even more than you feel sorry for yourself. He didn't ask to have to care for a teenage son by himself. But he does make the choice to drink. He didn't choose to be a terrible father. But he does choose to discipline you in a violent way. It's so hard for you to hate him, yet too hard to love him at the same time. You hope he learns to fix himself someday.

He's banging on the bathroom door. You hear him yelling about how sorry he is, he doesn't expect you to forgive him. Then it changes to you need to open the fucking door right now, you're in huge ass trouble if you don't get out here right fucking now. You hope he'll just give up and go to bed already. Just as that crosses your mind, the banging stops. You hear one last strangled "I'm sorry," and his feet shuffling away. He shuts the door behind him and you relax against the wall across from the toilet.

You stand up, flush down the contents of your stomach, and wash out your mouth out in the sink. You're glad you have your own bathroom in your room. You open the door slowly and inspect the room before stepping out into it. You quickly rush to your bedroom door and lock it when you see he's really gone. You grab your cell phone from your pocket, which of course never actually died, and text Karkat.

_Ii wii2h he'd ju2t diie_

_DID HE JUST FUCKING GET YOU AGAIN?_

_No, iim ju2t complaiiniing about my dad becau2e ii can. what do you think?_

_IM SORRY, SOLLUX. IT'S STILL FUCKING WEIRD TO CALL YOU THAT._

_Ii love how that'2 what you focu2 on. how weiird iit ii2 two call me by my fiir2t name_

You don't have it in you to even frown at your "two" typo. Instead you set your phone on your nightstand, shut your window, and fall asleep with the hope that your ribs aren't as cracked as they feel.


	8. Chapter 8

You wake up to feel like someone just stabbed you in the side.

You guess you have at least one broken rib. You're probably not wrong. You pull of your shirt gently and gasp at how huge your dark purple bruise is. You hope your face isn't that dark. You quickly stand up and look at your face in the mirror of your bathroom. The left side has three splotchy purple bruises on it. Great. You decide that today would be a good day to wear your green hoodie that has a skull on it. After painfully taking off the shirt and sweats you have to return to Eridan, you shove on some jeans and a random tee. Your hoodie goes on next, along with your shoes which you just so happen to wear mismatched today. The left converse is black, the right one white. You think it's ironic that it lines up with the color on your face. Your contacts are dry from you sleeping in them, and because they're your only pair you have to wear glasses or go blind. You groan as you grab your anaglyph style glasses. People are probably going to laugh at the "3D glasses" colors, but you could care less at this point. You grab your backpack, unlock your bedroom door, and head downstairs to find your dad cooking breakfast. He's sober, it's the morning.

"Morning, Sollux."

You cough and pull your hood over your head as you grab the doorknob of your front door. "Bye, Dad." You pull the door open.

"No, son, wait. I know you have some time. Come eat breakfast with me."

"I'm not hungry." You walk outside and feel his eyes on you through the kitchen window as you run down the street to your bus stop. It really hurts to run. It really hurts to speak. You wish you could just go sleep away the pain somewhere. Like that would ever happen. You lean against the stop sign that is your bus stop. Suddenly you realize that Eridan and Feferi's house is on your route, you just didn't know him yesterday morning and he didn't ride in the afternoon. You swear under your breath as the bus pulls up and you see ED wave to you from the backseat's window. You know he'll expect you to sit near them now, and if you don't something is obviously wrong. You grit your teeth as you walk onto the bus, heading straight for the back. You sit in the seat across from Eridan, thankfully he's to your right and hasn't really seen your face yet. You grab out your phone and start texting KK as you listen to FF and ED ramble on about something clothes related.

_Wow 2o iim goiing two get 2ome iintere2tiing look2 and que2tiion2 twoday_

_NO FUCKING WAY. HOW BAD IS IT THIS TIME? AND WHERE?_

_Entiire left 2iide of my face. Iit2 dark purple._

_HOLY SHIT CAPTOR._

_Don't fuckiing call me captor_

_OOPS. SORRY, SOLLUX._

_Yeah yeah whatever iim ju2t hopiing ED and FF wont make a huge fuckiing deal out of iit and keep their mouth2 2hut_

_WAIT WHAT? WHY?_

_They riide my bu2 retard_

You roll your eyes and shove your phone in your pocket. Feferi suddenly asks you a question, which you barely hear. "Sollux?" You turn your head just barely to look at them, hopefully hiding the bruises, and throw in a quiet "Hm?"

You didn't hide the bruises well at all.

Eridan reaches out and turns your head more so he can see them better. "Holy shit, Sol! What the fuck happened?"

"Nothing…," you barely manage to speak.

Eridan gives you a sad yet knowing look. "That is not nothing. Anywhere else?" You simply stare at his eyes, giving no response until he says, "Where?" You look away and gently pull up your hoodie and shirt on the left side until he can see your injured ribs. "Holy fuck! Are you sure those aren't broken?!"

"They kind of feel like they are…" You carefully pull your clothing back over your ribs, refusing to look at ED. FF is confused, so you tell ED to just tell her already. He does, quietly and quickly, and she looks extremely concerned for you. "Don't give me that fucking look." You still don't want to look either one of them in the eyes, so you don't.

"I'm taking you to a hospital to get those looked at, Sol."

"No fucking way!" You're looking at him now. Your voice sounds angry, but your eyes are pleading. "Don't you dare take me to a hospital." You're terrified of hospitals. You don't know why, though you think it's the fact that you can hear almost every dying voice like it's inside your head, but you can't go near them. Eridan looks sympathetic, but says he's going to take you no matter what. You argue with him until he pulls out his cell phone and calls his mother.

"Hey, mom?" You wish you could hear her side of the conversation. "I need you to pick Sollux up at school and take him to the hospital." You know she's asking why. "I'll tell you in the car… Yes I'm coming as well… He's my boyfriend, I have the right to… Thanks, mom… Love you, too. Bye." You feel a pang of desire when he says he loves his mother. You wish you could love your father and he would love you back. You just can't. He looks over at you. "Looks like we're going to the hospital, Sol." You bite your lip. It's your only nervous habit. "You'll feel better about it when you're on pain killers." The bus pulls into school and you attempt to head towards your locker. That attempt is futile. Eridan grabs hold of your arm and tugs you towards the pick-up/drop-off area and waits for his mother. You would've fought back and actually tried to get away, but your entire body aches and it hurts just to breathe. You'd rather not feel like you're being stabbed more than you already do. "She's here." Eridan snaps you out of your thoughts, his arm still wrapped around yours as he pulls you towards his mom's royal purple Ford Explorer. He shoves you in the backseat, though he joins you in seconds. "Hey, Mom."

"Holy shit! What the fuck happened to you?" Cecile almost quotes her son, which normally you would laugh at. Instead you simply buckle up and lean towards the window.

"That's what I said. Like almost word for word." Eridan frowns. "That's also on his left ribs. I think one is broken, he said it felt like it."

"Is there a reason Sollux isn't speaking?"

"He hates hospitals apparently." Eridan sounds upset. That hurts you. You hate having someone actually care about you that you've known for not even 24 hours. Cecile sounds upset as well, and that hurts even more. You've known her for even less time. You wrap your arms around yourself, try to block them out. It barely works, but works all the same. You slowly start to fall asleep and by the time you reach the hospital are out cold. You feel a gentle shaking and awake to find yourself in the parking lot of one of your biggest fears. Great. Eridan smiles softly. "At least you got some sleep. Come on, let's go."

You eye the hospital nervously, biting your lips again. "I'd rather not…" Eridan frowns at you, so you get out of the car. He follows in suit and grabs hold of your hand when he stands next to you. You had forgotten to act like his boyfriend, but hold on to his hand now like it's a life support. If it weren't for the circumstances, you would have laughed. Your roles from yesterday have been swapped, and now you're the nervous one. He even gives you the same, reassuring, squeeze as you head towards the front doors. You decide to swallow your fear, you aren't here for someone else, it's for you. You shouldn't be scared, because you know what's wrong. Your rib feels like it's broken. You should be fine. You take a deep breath and feel Eridan's eyes on your face, at which you glance down at him. "What?"

"You **really** don't like hospitals, do you?"

"They freak me out, yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not." He doesn't know what to say to that and instead signs you in. He tells the nurse behind the counter that he thinks you have a broken rib, and you don't like hospitals. She frowns sympathetically and asks you how this happened. You say you got jumped last night. She asks why you didn't call the police. You say you didn't have anything on you that they could steal, it didn't hurt this bad at the time. She frowns, but leads you to a room and says that the doctor will be there shortly.

Cecile sits in a chair by the door. Eridan sits in one by the hospital bed you're laying on. He holds your hand gently as you attempt to hold your ribs in place with an arm. You take shaky, slow, deep breaths. He's quickly realizing how terrified you are to be in a hospital. "It's okay, Sol. Hospitals really aren't that bad. Just think that you won't hurt soon enough. Makes it seem less scary to me."

"Ha. Okay. Yeah. They're going to jam me full of medication so I can't feel anything. Then wrap me in bandages so I look like a fucking mummy. Yup. Totally not freaky." Really those aren't the parts that bug you. It's everything you can hear. Hospitals have too many deaths and house too many dying. You can hear them all, though you know Eridan can't so you don't mention it. You mentioned it once and had to go through testing to see if you were mental or not. You're not. Just hyper-sensitive to people who are dead or going to be soon. It scares you sometimes, but you really only hear anything in hospitals. So you avoid them at all costs. Oh well, you're here now. You frown and rub at your head softly with the hand that was clutching your ribs. "Headache. Wonderful."

Eridan leans over and kisses your forehead, a gesture that makes you blush slightly. "I'm sorry, Sol." You look over at him and you can see how much he really does seem to care, just from his eyes. You place a hand on his cheek and sit up far enough to kiss his lips softly. You feel his face heat up under your palm.

"Thanks, ED." You lean back down and he holds onto your hand tightly now.

The doctor comes in. You explain what happened, using the same lies as before. You walk to the x-ray room, get x-rayed, and walk back. You sigh as the doctor confirms your worries, you have two cracked ribs. He prescribes you some pain meds, sends you home wrapped tight in bandages. You also have a small bottle of pain medication and a doctor's note to get out of P.E. You arrive at school halfway through third period. Your teacher doesn't even acknowledge you, it's a work time anyways. Almost everyone else in class, however, asks you a million questions.

Why are you wearing glasses now?

What happened to your face?

Why are you so quiet?

Eventually you just rest your forehead on the table and tell KK that, "Headache has officially become migraine." He frowns, tells everyone to leave you the fuck alone, your head fucking hurts. You thank him. He says no problem. You go through the school day with minimal pain, except to your head.


	9. Chapter 9

You utterly hate migraines.

The bus ride was spent with you holding your knees up to your chest and burying your head in them. It helped to block out the light around you, but you could do nothing to hide from the sound. "Why are high school kids so loud?" you had asked ED, who was sitting right beside you, at one point. His response was to grab a pair of thick headphones, not the small, ear-bud kind but the large, over the head, ear covering kind, and gently place them over your ears. You could barely hear anything, and he wasn't even playing music through them. You thank him quietly and he just gave you a understanding smile.

He leans over and lifts up a headphone before mentioning that, "You can wear those home, just give 'em back later." You nod slightly and he sets the headphone back down on your ear. He grabs your hand and squeezes it softly when the bus reaches his stop. You barely make a sound, but you do attempt at saying bye. FF and ED wave at you, each with smiles. You wait impatiently for the bus to reach your stop, and walk off quickly when it does. You would have ran to your front door if your ribs wouldn't have hurt. You arrive at your doorway with a grimace. You hate this place. All you feel here is pain. You frown, oh well, that sucks for you, other people have it worse, at least you have a home. You can only try and try again to make this place feel like what it's supposed to be, though it never works. You sigh and walk inside. Something's different. This is isn't your usual empty house, it's been cleaned. Your dad never cleans unless you were going on a vacation… Fuck no. You walk straight to the fridge per the norm and see a note on the freezer on top.

_Sollux,_

_Sorry for not telling you sooner_

_Going on a business trip_

_Won't be back for a week or so_

_Love you,_

_Dad._

You rip off the "Love you" part, taking his signing of "Dad" with it. He doesn't love you. He can't love you. If he loved you, you wouldn't have been in the hospital with two cracked ribs today. If he loved you, you wouldn't have a permanent scar over your right eye. Your father is many things, but loving is not one of those. You throw away the ripped off part and grab a soda. You cringe at the loud noise it makes when you open it. You drink a fourth of the can in one shot, set it on a counter, and head upstairs to your bathroom. You have medication you're supposed to take to prevent your migraines, but you don't bother. They help to get rid of one when you get one and so that's what you use them for. You grab a pill from the bottle and swallow it dry. You're happy it's Friday. You can do your homework later. You head to your bed and decide to take a nap, after texting KK.

_Dad'2 gone for a week. Thank gog._

_GOOD. YOU DESERVE A FUCKING BREAK SOLLUX._

_Thank2 KK_

_SHIT_

_What?_

_MOM'S BEING A BITCH. GTG_

_Ha. Have fun wiith that KK_

You lean back against your pillows and somewhat curl up. Your head already feels better. It's dark in your room, quiet in your house, and you don't have to worry about your father for a week. You fall asleep with a slight smile on your face.

…

You hear a loud ringing, as if it's right next to you, and awake to find that it is. Someone's calling your cell. You groan and pick up the phone, pressing the talk button and jamming it to your ear.

"Hello?" you still sound tired, half asleep even. Your voice sounds groggy.

"Were you asleep or somethin', Sol?" You close your eyes and listen to Eridan's voice.

"No, I just sound like this because I was voice acting. Yeah, I was asleep."

"How can you manage to sleep in that house?" Eridan sounds shocked.

You sigh. "Dad's gone for a week. Business trip."

"Nice." You can actually hear the relieved smile in his voice.

"Is there a specific reason you called me or did you just want to wake me up from my migraine free sleep?" You could feel the edges of said migraine crawling back into your mind and bringing back the shooting pain as well.

"Oh, uh, yeah. My mom was wondering if you wanted to come over again tonight. She really likes you and uh, kinda feels like it's now her responsibility to take care a' you or somethin'. She said you could sleep over if you wanted." You frown. You want to go, but your head still hurts.

You sigh audibly into the phone. "Yeah, sure. I'll be over in an hour or two."

"We can just pick you up you know."

You chuckle softly, "I won't be in such a rush this time, ED. I won't need to take a shower over there." You hear him quietly laugh into the phone. "See you soon."

"Yeah, bye." At this you hang up and sit up slowly. You rub at your head and decide to take one more pill to help get rid of it. You head to the bathroom, swallow it down, strip off your clothes, and hop in the shower. Somewhere during your ten minute shower, you stop feeling your migraine and grin in relief. When you walk back into your room, you pull on boxers and skinny jeans but grab a baggy shirt. It's just another band tee, but it's brighter and stands out against your black jeans. You pull on the green hoodie and your mismatched shoes again. It's been almost a half hour since the phone call with Eridan. You figure that at a normal pace you could be at ED's in about twenty minutes. You shove your phone in your pocket and head downstairs. Grabbing your soda off the counter where you left it, you chug the rest and toss the can. You walk outside, glad that you get to use the door for once, and sit on your bike. You peddle at a lazy speed for once, but arrive at ED's house in about twenty minutes just as you had predicted. You park your bike in the same place as before, though this time you're much more careful about it. You head up the porch and knock on the door. Eridan answers it and smiles, "Hey, Sol. Oh look, you aren't covered in sweat this time."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." You laugh at him and remember to pretend you're dating. This prompts you to kiss his cheek softly as you walk inside. He blushes and you chuckle softly. You say hi to his mom, who smiles and mentions that you look like you feel better. You laugh at this and add that yeah, pain pills do that to you. She laughs at you and says that she's going to start cooking around six tonight so Eridan's step-dad can eat as well. You grin and tell her you can't wait. Eridan starts to lead you upstairs until suddenly Feferi runs towards you and traps you in a bear hug. "Ow, ow, FF come on let go," you frown; her arms are wrapped around your ribs. "Seriously, FF, that hurts get off." You stretch out the word "off" so she knows you aren't mad.

"Oops! Sorry! But- Hi Sollux!" You laugh at her and mutter a greeting. Then Eridan continues to pull you upstairs by the hand of yours that he's holding. When you reach his room, Eridan shuts the door before hugging you gently.

"Okay, I have to admit that it was my idea to invite you over. Not my mom's. I was worried about you…" You blush and put an arm around him to return the hug.

"Thanks, ED." He somewhat nuzzles into your neck, causing your face to darken a bit.

"Why do you smell so good…?" He jolts back after that. "U-Uh, I mean-" You laugh at him. His face is dark red.

"Because I took a shower **before** coming over here this time." You make sure to not mention his crimson features. You have a feeling he'd die of even more embarrassment.

You wonder what his step-dad is going to be like.


	10. Chapter 10

You're starting to wonder what **actually** dating Eridan would be like.

You spent the next hour or so in Eridan's room, both of you asking trivial questions. If you two were going to pull off fake-dating, you kind of needed to know more about each other. The questions were simple, easy, until you decided to start asking him questions about his actual love life. It started off with "So what's your favorite color?" and ended with "You're a virgin aren't you?" He answered purple to the former and a stuttering yes to the latter. You laugh at him. He asks you why you laughed. You just say, "Because I'm not."

ED sits up to look at you; you've been sitting in a chair across from his bed which he's been sitting on. "R-Really?" You nod. "I wouldn't have guessed…" He suddenly realizes how rude that sounds and starts to add in, "Wait, no, I mean-"

"No, it's fine. I know what you meant."

ED seems kind of shell shocked by this. "So how many boyfriends have you had?"

"Two. And a girlfriend, but that was short lived." He looks like he's about to ask something that makes him nervous. You guess at what it is and answer, "It was one of my boyfriends. He got me drunk." You frown.

"Drunk? Where did he get-"

"We were at **my** house, ED. My dad's an alcoholic. Wasn't too difficult to find some booze." Now he frowns.

"Did you love him?"

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," and you are. You really are sorry you let someone take advantage of you like that, but it's too late now. You notice Eridan bite his lip. "What're you nervous about? Just ask."

"W-Well… I was kind of w-wondering… Why are you so okay w-with just kissing me w-whenever?" You smirk at the way he stuttered there, matching up with the way he types almost perfectly.

"Because you're cute." He looks up at you, surprised, and you watch his face turn red.

"I am not!"

"Oh gog, don't go off on the whole 'Guys can't be cute' thing, 'cause it is **so** not true." You roll your eyes.

"You r-really think I'm cute…?" Yes. You think he's cute. You get butterflies when he pets your hair, when he holds your hand, when he hugs you. Getting to kiss him is just another bonus to this whole fake-dating thing, though today you feel like it's getting more real. That scares you.

"Yup," is the only thing you push out. You still barely know him. You can't do anything stupid yet, you might get hurt. Wait, just wait. You've waited before; it paid off in the end. Just wait, get to know him better, see if this feeling in your stomach is real or not. You can live with how this is now, acting like a couple in his house but nowhere else. It's nice. Just stay with that for now.

As you give yourself a repetitive mental pep-talk, you watch his face go through five different shades of red before settling on an attractive pink. You notice the way his eyebrows furrow in frustration at his own blushing, his eyes still a bit wide behind his glasses. You grin when he says "Uhh… Thanks, Sol." You have the urge to tease him, ask him what he thinks of you, but you don't. Mainly because there was just a knock on his door. He stands up and answers it. "Hey, Raymon!" You haven't heard that name yet. You guess it's his step-father. You're correct. Eridan suddenly pulls you up by an arm and introduces you to him. "Raymon, this is my boyfriend, Sollux. Sollux, this is my step-dad, Raymon." You immediately grin and hold out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Sir."

"Oh, please." He shakes your hand, "Just call me Raymon."

You laugh, "Got it." You like his step-dad already. He starts to head downstairs and both of you follow. Raymon is asking you normal questions, ones he'd ask one of his step-son's friends. It makes you feel welcome. You don't stop smiling as you talk to him, not even when Eridan grabs your hand. Actually, you're almost positive your smile happens to grow a bit then. Once again you all laugh and talk and eat like one big family. You wish you could have this at your house, but you'll settle for having it at ED's. While you all laugh at a joke Raymon just said, he asks a question, obviously pointed at you.

"So what's your family like?" You look up at him from where you were smiling at the table and just kind of frown disappointedly.

"Nothing like this. Basically the exact opposite."

"What do you mean?"

You clear your throat. "Well. My mom left my dad years ago and I haven't seen her since. Uh, my brother, Mituna, he moved out a few years back. So it's really just me and my dad and we don't really talk much. Most of the time he's not awake in the morning like me and then doesn't come home from work until I'm asleep, or he's away on business trips like he is right now. He'll be gone for a week or so. Really I'm kind of alone in that house." Everyone at the table was listening, but you said it like you were talking only to Eridan. It made you feel more comfortable.

"That's just a shame." You look back up at Raymon, your eyebrows raised in a question. "You seem like a good kid, Sollux. Actually, I never really thought I'd like one of Eridan's boyfriends. But I like you. So, how about you spend the week here, while your dad's gone? He wouldn't mind would he?" You realize that Raymon never mentioned your bruised and scarred face, and grin at him. He's kind.

"No, he wouldn't. I'd love to." Eridan has had his hand on top of yours on the table for a few minutes, but now he squeezes it gently. You guess he's nervous about having you sleep over for such a long time, but you don't care at all.

Raymon grins widely. "Great! Tomorrow, we'll drive you over to your house to get your things, alright?" You nod and mutter an agreement as FF and Cecile cheer.

"Guys, guys, come on, I'm not that cool." The rest of dinner is spent arguing over everyone's position in the "cool scale." It was decided that Raymon and Cecile are tied on top, followed closely by you, FF, and ED, who are also all tied. You came up with that compromise so everyone would stop arguing like idiots.

You wonder what sleeping in Eridan's room is going to be like.


	11. Chapter 11

You lay back on Eridan's bed. Dinner is over, family time is over, you feel drained, you want to sleep. You close your eyes when your head hits his pillow, your arms crossed behind it. Suddenly you feel him straddle your stomach and your eyes shoot back open. "Why are you sitting on me?"

"Because you totally just stole my bed."

"So?"

"The thing is huge. You're taking up the direct middle. I will lay on you if I have to, but I'd prefer you scoot over." You laugh.

"And you couldn't just tell me to scoot?"

"This seemed like more fun." You get an idea.

"Oh? Well, what if I did this?" You roll him over so now you're straddling him and laugh as his cheeks light up red. "I swear, you're so easy to embarrass." You roll back off of him and lay to his left. You groan. "I should probably not sleep in skinny jeans…," but your eyes are already closed, and you yawn loudly. You run a hand through your black hair and laugh when Eridan throws your pajama pants at your face. "Thanks, asshole."

"Anytime, douchebag." You hear him start to change his own pants and then stop. "Shove those back on your face, asswipe, you are not watchin' me change." You laugh; you had looked up at him while his pants were halfway off.

"Oh come on, I'm your boyfriend remember. I should have the right to see you in your boxers." You laugh again, but comply with his request.

"Yeah, okay. Maybe if we were actually dating, but we aren't, now are we?" Did you hear hope in his voice? You look up at him again, though he's done changing this time around.

"I don't even know anymore, are we?" You stand up now and change quickly, not caring that he was watching and staring at all the scars on your legs from your dad. He sits on his bed, cross legged and facing you. You do the same but notice he looks upset, his eyebrows are furrowed. "What?"

He lowers his voice, "Did… Did your dad cause all of those…?"

"Yeah," you sound irritated, but that really isn't what you feel right now. Right now, all you feel is hurt. You hate talking about what your father does to you, no matter who it's with. It always stings, makes each old scar burn like it's new.

"I'm sorry…"

"Stop saying that. It gets repetitive, ED," You take your glasses off and set them on the nightstand by his bed. "God your room is huge." You look around at the large space. Eridan's room is composed of four main objects; his queen sized bed, a huge walk-in closet, his desk, and the mirror that takes up almost an entire wall. You don't like the mirror; it shows you every detail of your frail looking body. You can see your lanky body, thin from never bothering to eat at home, your messed up, and almost pointed in the back, black hair, and your scarred and bruised face with studs for snakebites. You hate what you see, can barely stand it. Then you look at Eridan. He has a muscular torso, like a surfer would have. His legs are a bit thinner, but not by much. His light brown hair with the blonde streak is sculpted just how he wants it. He has no piercings. He doesn't look sick like you, he looks healthy and sturdy. You frown at yourself in the mirror. You notice Eridan look over at you in the mirror, and you can tell he's doing the same thing you just did. Comparing. "I look so… damaged… compared to you."

"You're just thin, Sol. It's not like you're black and blue with scars- wow. I'm a shitty friend. Can't even think of a better metaphor." You look over at him.

"You're definitely not a shitty friend, ED."

"Yeah I am, I suck ass, Sol."

You shake your head, "No. You're probably the best friend I've ever had."

"Then you must have had some super shitty friends there, Sol."

"Eridan, you forced me to go to a hospital. Called your mom, got us a ride, and then sat with me the entire time. Even when I was freaking out because they scare the shit out of me, you still insisted I go because it would help me. You're pretending to date me so your parents don't know that I ran over here yesterday because I was scared of my dad. I've known you for not even 48 hours, and you've probably been the best thing for my health that I've been around in years. You think **_you're _**a sucky friend? Sorry to break this to you, but that's me. I've done nothing nice for you, not one thing, and yet you actually care about me. I don't deserve someone like you in my life, Eridan." You can't believe you just said that without stop, even when he tried repeatedly to interrupt you. You sigh wait for him to stop looking so surprised by your rant.

"W-Wow, Sol… I… I didn't realize-"

"What? That you're probably the most caring and kind person I've ever known? 'Cause yeah, that's you." You cross your arms in resignation. You feel even more drained then before. "Can we sleep now…?"

Eridan reaches out and pulls you into a hug. You hug him back slowly, hesitantly, and somewhat nuzzle into his warm chest. He pets your hair softly. "I wish I'd known you years ago…"

"Why?"

"Because if I had, maybe you wouldn't be so broken now."


	12. Chapter 12

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you can't believe what you just woke up to.

Sollux and you fell asleep last night each facing away from each other. He was on the left side of the bed, by the wall with the door, and you were on the right side, facing the window. You know you move in your sleep and you mean, hell, who doesn't? So you expected to wake up facing a different direction, which you are. Not only are you now facing Sol, but he's facing you. That would be fine if it weren't for the fact that his face is buried in your chest and holy fuck your face is burning with blush. You realize that Sollux has just woken up as well. His eyes go wide and he pulls back to look up at you. You think it's interesting how his eyes seem to glow in the darkness around you, the brown one seemingly red. "How did I end up-?"

"I don't even know."

You hear him sigh. "You know what? I don't even fucking care. I'm tired and you smell good so fuck it."

"E-Eh?!" He snuggles himself back into your chest, to your surprise of course. You frown, your face is dark red again and you are thankful for the darkness around you. You sigh as well and wrap your arm around him. You notice how he lets out a shaky breath when your arm barely puts pressure on his ribs. "S-Sorry…"

He ignores your apology. "Gog, you're warm…" You feel his hand gently clutch onto the shirt you're wearing. "Night, ED…," even with those three syllables you can hear the worn quality of his voice. It worries you that, even when he's half asleep, you can tell he's had some damage done to him. You gently pull him closer, and fall back asleep with your fake boyfriend in your arms. You're starting to doubt the "fake" quality of that relationship.

…

You awake to a groan coming from Sollux, who then proceeds to hide from the sun in your chest. You laugh at him, but pull him closer to you. "Good morning, Sunshine. Oh, and you too, Sol." He punches your arm half-heartedly and mutters something you can't understand. "What was that?"

"I said 'Fuck you,'" he says it loudly this time.

You laugh again, "Someone's not a morning person." You were going to say he'd like to, but considering your current positions you figured that would be too awkward.

"Yeah, you know, computer nerd habits of sitting around in the dark, staring at a lit up screen for hours. The sun doesn't become your friend. What time is it?" He still sounds groggy and tired.

You sit up slightly and look at the clock before lying back down. You realize your arm is still draped around him. "9:38…" He groans. "Let me guess, 'Five more minutes, mom!'" You laugh and he looks up at you with a glare.

"Asshole."

"Douchecanoe."

"Where'd you come up with that one?" He gives you a look that says you're ridiculous.

"I don't know. Just kind of… came to me, I guess." He laughs at you.

"You're so cheesy sometimes."

"Hey, Sollux?"

"What?" He tilts his head slightly with your question. You know what you're going to say. You're worried.

"I think we need to talk about something…"

You're worried you might lose him because of this.


	13. Chapter 13

Your name is Sollux Captor and currently you can't breathe.

That might have something to with that the fact that, A, Eridan is kissing you and B, oh, yeah, **_Eridan_** is kissing **_you_**. And not just one of the usual kisses you give him, the quick ones that you say mean nothing. Oh, no. This is an actual kiss. One he means. One you didn't expect. One he pushed you back to the pillows behind you with. And how did we get here? Well let's see. It started with you waking up, being irritated with the sun, you and Eridan cracking jokes at each other. Then he says he thinks you two need to talk about something.

"Okay… What?" You don't hear his urgent tone that's also laced with embarrassment.

"Uh, well, us, I guess." You frown at this. "I mean like, you said yesterday that you didn't know whether or not we were friends or something more, and I kind of want to, you know, figure that out." You sigh.

"Eridan, I don't know how to help you with that. Honestly, I don't care about figuring it out."

"Yeah, I guessed you wouldn't. But too bad. You're going to." You groan. "Sol, yesterday you… You said you didn't deserve someone like me in your life." He's released you finally and is laying on his back now. He was staring at the ceiling, like you are, but now he's looking right at you. "What… What exactly did you mean?"

"I meant…" You take a deep, somewhat irritated, breath. "I meant that I'm a piece of shit person, so I don't deserve someone as… As genuine as you."

"Genuine?" Gog, he's an idiot sometimes.

"Yes, genuine. You're nice just to be nice, ED. You have no exterior motives. I don't deserve that."

"Why don't you?"

"What?" Now you're facing him as well.

"Why don't you deserve it? You're not a shitty person, Sol. You have a shitty life. There's a difference. Hell, you saved Tavros just because he was in trouble! I couldn't do that even if I wanted to! I'd be too afraid of getting myself hurt! Which… is kind of ironic…" You raise an eyebrow questioningly. "I… Sollux, you aren't a bad person. You aren't at all. You're an… injured… person. You have issues, but hey, who doesn't?" You laugh bitterly.

"Your entire family it seems."

"Oh yeah? My dad, my real dad, died. You know why? Overdose. He fucking overdosed. My mom? She learned from that. Quit drugs. No one is perfect, Sol." You sit up and pull him up with you. He looks like he's about to start crying. You pull him in close and keep your face blank when you rest it on top of his head. He doesn't let out a single sob, but you know he's crying. You've been done with crying for months. It doesn't help anyone, so why bother? He continues talking, speaking in a quieter voice now. "Sol… I… I don't think you're a bad person. Hell, half the time I think you're way stronger than me. What, with all of the shit your dad puts you through? I mean look at yourself!" He pulls back and puts a hand over your bruises, gently running his thumb over them as you blush slightly. "He **covers** you in this shit, and you just take it. You don't whine, you don't complain that it hurts, which I know for a fact it would if you hadn't downed a pain pill in the middle of the night. Yeah, you woke me up. Get over it." You frown down at him. Eridan is only maybe three inches shorter than you, barely, but it still makes a difference. You've already stopped hugging him and he drops his hand. "You need to… just…" He sighs and you can tell he's fighting with himself over saying something. "Please stop putting yourself down. I can't watch it when…" That fighting look crosses his features again.

"When I'm so madly in love with you," Eridan finally finishes his sentence. You don't understand this. He leans over and kisses you, softly at first, but then he pushes you down until your back on the pillows. You don't pull away, but kiss him back instead. Eridan… he loves you… after only knowing you for a few days? You don't believe him. You turn your head away and pull in a deep breath.

"You've only known me for a couple days, ED… You don't love me…"

"At this point, I don't care what you think on the matter. Because I do love you. And I tried to wait, get to know you better, all that shit. I got sick of it quickly. I'm determined here, Sol. And if you don't love me, I'll get you to somehow." Your face is still turned away as he leans down and kisses your cheekbone softly. You frown, irritated at the blush forming over that same spot on either side of your face.

"Then you're going to have some work to do, ED."


	14. Chapter 14

Eridan is a shitty driver. You, unfortunately, learned this the hard way.  
Around noon, Raymon, who has Sunday's off work, let you and ED borrow the car to go get your things for the week stay. Halfway through the ten minute drive, you declared him as the worse driver in the history of the United States. He just laughed at you. You said you're driving back to his house, or you'll walk. He said that was fine and pulled into your driveway. "I get to come inside right?"  
You think about it, "Uhh… Sure…?" You step out of his car and pull your keys from your jacket pocket. Unlocking the door that is only inches taller than your head, you walk inside and head straight for the stairs.  
"Wow, someone's been cleaning recently." ED is looking around, "admiring" your house. You roll your eyes at this. Immediately after walking inside, the kitchen is to your right. There's a bar counter that connects it to the living room, which is wide and open due to your lack of furniture. There's one large couch against the staircase, which is straight ahead of the front door, and a TV across the room from it, above the fireplace. If ED were to walk around to the other side of the staircase, he'd find your old family room, still covered in videogames, puzzles, board games; the works from your childhood. You bound the stairs quickly before you hear him following you. At the top of the stairs is a hallway. Directly ahead is your bedroom, and directly to your left is your father's. Between the two is your brother's old room; the door has been locked shut from the day he moved out on. Your room is the master bedroom. You claimed it as a child and forced your dad to move down the hall, which he was okay with. Your dad used to be caring, it just faded away. Eridan follows you into your room and you purposefully drop the shirt you were holding on the floor. You never cleaned up the blood you coughed out that night. Your room is composed of almost nothing. You have a bed by the far left wall, a bathroom to the right, a small closet on the same wall as the door, and directly opposite said door is your window. "You have a rope here? Like, all the time?"  
"I got tired of putting it up and taking it back down, yeah."  
"Your dad doesn't notice it?"  
"Most days I lock the door." He stays silent to that. You expected him to chastise some of the shirts you stuff in your bag, though he only gives some wary looks. He sits on your bed quietly, the yellow and black comforter still shoved over from the last time you slept in here. You grimace when he accidently kicks away the shirt and freezes, staring at the splotchy redness.  
"Is this…?"  
"Yeah."  
"From the day you…?  
"Yup." You shove your hands in the pockets of your black skinny jeans as you stand up. "I didn't get to clean it yet." You're wearing your school backpack, since you're going to need its contents from tomorrow until you leave ED's. The red, blue, and black bag matches up with your jacket almost perfectly. The right side of the torso of your jacket is a deep red, while the left is a dark blue. The sleeves are black. You think it's funny how accurately the bag matches the jacket. Underneath both, you're wearing a plain black tee over an old shirt, one from when you were in love with bees. You still think they're cool and all, but wearing a yellow and black striped shirt isn't something you do. The black t-shirt is short sleeved, but the striped one reaches down to your wrist. Eridan's wardrobe is completely different from yours. He wears a lot of blues and purples and grays, all of which you think make his eyes stand out gorgeously. You won't tell him that. You can't.  
You lean to grab your bag of clothes and gasp when you stand back up to have Eridan press his lips into yours. You attempt to pull away, but your frail body can't get out of his grip on your shoulders. You put your hands on his chest and try to push him away, which he complies with this time. Your back is against the wall, he always seems to pin you to something, and his lips are still inches from yours while you stare towards his shoes and pant softly. "Go out with me, Sol."  
"What? Aren't I already doing that?" You refuse to look up at him, your hands still on his chest.  
"No, I mean for real. Not just around my family. How am I supposed to get you to love me if you won't even give me a chance?" You frown and get pulled into one of his gentle hugs. You feel your stomach do flips and sigh.  
"Okay, yeah, fine. I'll go out with you. For real."

You lay on Eridan's bed yet again. You're laying on your stomach this time, the soft purple comforter giving you a decent amount of reassurance as you pull out your cell. You find Karkat's contact and frown before opening a new message to him.  
_KK. ii have 2omethiing two tell you. ii thiink you're goiing two bee mad at me.  
OH FUCK. WHAT DID YOU DO NOW FUCKASS?  
iim dating 2omeone  
WOAH REALLY? WHY WOULD I BE PISSED ABOUT THA- SOLLUX WHO THE LIVING SHIT ARE YOU DATING?!  
uhm. well.  
SOLLUX FUCKIING CAPTOR.  
ii'm datiing eriidan. You can already see KK banging his head against the wall at this.  
WHY. WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A FUCKING STUPID THING. ARE YOU A MORON OR SOME SHIT?  
kiinda feel2 liike iit yeah  
SOMETIMES I WORRY ABOUT YOUR SHITTY DECISION MAKING  
thank2 KK  
ANYTIME FUCKTARD  
we 2hould hang out twomorrow  
WHY  
becau2e ii 2aiid we 2hould that'2 why  
IM FUCKING GROUNDED RIGHT NOW. MAYBE NEXT WEEK OR SOME SHIT.  
ii wiill hold you two that like you ju2t promii2ed two never date my teenage daughter  
WOW THAT SOUNDS FUCKING CREEPY. GOOD JOB SOLLUX._  
You laugh and Eridan gives you a weird look from his closet. He was planning tomorrow's outfit. You just shake your head at him before asking, "What, have to find something snazzy for tomorrow's unveiling of the boyfriend ceremony at school?"  
"Wow, how'd you know?" You laugh at him; apparently ED speaks sarcasm as well. He heads back in his closet and you hear his voice call out, "Hey, come here real quick." You stand up and walk towards him, frowning when he holds a shirt up to you. "I knew it would look good on you." You look down at the black and red long sleeve shirt. More stripes. You look up at him.  
"I am not wearing that."  
"I believe you are, Sol. I will dress you myself if I have to." You frown, knowing he probably could due to your current strength.  
"You know, I should have muscled up before I met you. Would've been worth it."  
"Probably. But you didn't." He grabs your arm and pulls you closer to him. You expect another kiss, but instead he just hugs you and nuzzles his face into your neck. "I love the way you smell…" You blush slightly, not willing to give him a response. "I wonder what the idiots at school are going to say…"  
"Yeah, me too…"


	15. Chapter 15

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you can't wait for second period.  
Second period is the first class you have with your new boyfriend, Sollux. If you weren't so nervous to see everyone's opinions, you wouldn't be so impatient right now. Sollux's first period classroom is just up the hall from yours. You wonder if he's going to walk with you to chemistry. Just the thought of it makes you even more eager for class to end. On the bus this morning he sat by you, but people figured you two were just friends. You shake your leg as you let your mind wander over your friends' opinions. They all like Sollux, sure, but what might they think of you two starting to date after only a few days of knowing each other? You worry that the reaction you receive will be negative. You watch the clock with an uneasy stomach. You can act like you aren't embarrassed when it's just you and Sol, but with other people watching you feel as though you're going to be culled by your own awkwardness.  
The bell rings. You take a second or two to get your stuff and head to the door. Sol is quick. He's waiting for you. He smiles gently and you swear you swallowed a few hundred butterflies. You reach him and smile back, "What happened to the embarrassed Sollux?"  
"He doesn't exist, asshole. Try the nervous and internally freaking out one. He comes out a lot around you." You laugh and he takes hold of your hand, lacing your fingers together. You swear the entire hallway just got quieter at that. But maybe it's because Sol is smiling and cracking jokes at you and that's all you can focus on. You tell him he's a douche. His smile widens. You're not sure which Sollux you like better; public Sollux, or the side of him he apparently only shows to you.  
"Okay so how many Sollux's are there?" You laugh as you try to recap the conversation from the hallway; you just sat down in chemistry and are glad to be sitting by him.  
"Let's see, there's happy Sollux," he laughs, "uhh, nervous Sollux, freaking out Sollux, asshole Sollux, aaaaand I think that was it. Right?" You shake your head no.  
"Nope! You missed one!"  
"Oh? Which one?"  
You lean over and kiss his cheek. This time you're positive the room got quieter. "There's cute Sollux as well."  
He laughs at this, "What, so I'm not just generally cute?"  
You laugh back, noticing how the room is definitely listening. Sometimes you hate being popular. "You're an ass."  
"You got that right," he smirks with this.  
A girl behind you, you think her name is Nepeta, mentions that, "D'aaaw! You guys are so purrfect together!~ It's so cuuute!~" You both turned around when she started speaking to you, but now you watch Sol smirk as your face lights up. He already knows her name, she has math with both of you as well.  
"Thanks, NP." She grins happily. You notice that some girls are giving you jealous looks. You forgot that Sollux got himself somewhat known around the school on his very first day. Some girls must be mad that you got him first. They probably think he's gay now. You smile at this, and then notice that even some guys are giving you those looks. You laugh and he raises a brow at you. You lean over and whisper in his ear that,  
"Half the class is glaring at me. I think I stole the new fan favorite." He laughs at this. You definitely like happy Sollux the best. No one bothers to mention his scar. No one mentions his slowly fading bruises. He's got his contacts back, and you think you like him better without glasses. His glasses hide that soft glow his eyes give away. Mr. Joans walks in, right as the bell rings of course. You groan and spin your chair around to face the front again. Sollux does the same. You try to listen, but slowly end up turning until you're staring at Sol's face. His choppy bangs fall just to the top of his eyes. His left eye, the one you're near, the deep blue one, seems have electricity go through it every time the light hits just right. His pierced ear doesn't seem gaudy, but fits his personality. And then you happen to look at his lips. You notice the way his studded snakebites happen to draw you back up to his lips. Suddenly you really want to kiss him. You bite your lip. Sollux leans to his right and grabs out a notebook, opening to a blank page and writing something before sliding it over to you.  
_Take a picture. It lasts longer(;  
You're such an asshole :I  
I'm not the one staring now am I? ;P  
Shut up. It's not my fault you're sexy.  
Oh! I totally just got bumped up there! You went from calling me cute to sexy! ;DD  
Haha shut up, idiot. I'm goin' ta' laugh in class an' get in trouble! xD  
Okay, yeah, and that would totally be my fault. What if I thtarted to write out my lithp? Doeth that help you to not laugh ED? xD  
PFFFFFFFFFFT- ASSHOLE.  
Hahahahahaha! :D  
I hate you sometimes, Sol  
D'aaaw! So not nice, ED):  
I'm just kidding, cod.  
Wow you really say cod? I thought I was hearing things.  
Nope. I say cod. Just like you say gog.  
Hm. ED. ED stop staring. ED Mr. Joans is going to notice eventually and then he'll take our poor note away (xD)  
But but but  
Lol but what?  
But you're so sexyyyyyyyyyyy Dx  
xD stop it now I'm going to laugh  
But its true!  
No, ED, stop, I'm trying not to laugh here  
Why is that funny?):  
Because you're the sexy one, not me(;  
You should be happy we're in class  
o.o why?  
Because if we weren't, I would be kissing you right now_  
You watch him grin and put the notebook away. You weren't joking. If you could, you'd kiss him right now. But you'd get yelled at. Plus a few death glares.  
You'll just have to wait until lunch.


	16. Chapter 16

Your name is Sollux Captor and occasionally, you hate having Karkat Vantas for a best friend.  
KK and you started arguing over the fact that you're dating Eridan; he disapproves, you tell him to go fuck himself, he's not dating ED, you are. Then it came down to the "Why?" question. You banged your head against the table and then kept your forehead resting there.  
"I don't even know man. I don't even know."  
"Then dump his sorry ass!"  
"Can't do that."  
"Why the fuck not?"  
"I promised to give him a chance." KK hits the back of your head and you look up at him, a hand over the spot he slapped. "Ow! What the fuck was that for?!"  
"Being an fucking idiot!" Your eyes widen as you see shining tears threatening to pour out of his eyes. He stand and turns away from you, heading straight for the door. You follow behind him, ignoring the yelling of Bitchzilla. KK heads to the bathroom; you chase him down, only a few steps behind. He enters the restroom and you push the door open before he can lock it, which he does seconds after you enter. "You're so goddamn stupid!" He leans against a wall and slides down it to sit on the floor. "I bet you still don't even fucking get it!"  
You frown. "I think I do, actually… I'm so sorry KK. I didn't know I was going to hurt you." You loathe your lisp even more than usual right now.  
He lets out a bitter laugh and you sit on the floor across from him. There is a small entryway before the room opens up, and that's where you're sitting, so your shoes are almost colliding with each other's. "I know you didn't fucking mean to, but you did alright? And it's too late now. It's not like you would have ever felt like that anyway, so who gives two flying shits anymore? Not Karkat Fucking Vantas, that's for sure!" He still sounds like he's on the verge of tears. You wish you could hug him, comfort him somehow. You can't. Not without hurting him further. You frown.  
"I would have." Why did you just say that.  
"What?" He looks up at you.  
"I said. I would have." He looks hopeful and you let out a small, sad, smile and add, "But now I've fallen too far to climb back up, just to fall again."


	17. Chapter 17

It is now fifth period and gog do you want to go sit in a corner and just die or some shit. Karkat won't stop glaring at Eridan. ED just glares back. You guess ED must know, just a guess. The coach calls you over, making sure to call you Sollux. He learned to never use your last name on the first day of school, at least for you, when you simply refused to respond as he called your last name. You jog up to him, "Yeah, coach?"  
"Vantas and Ampora both seem to cling to you, get them to stop being idiots for their sake, okay? I'm okay with them goofing off, but your other coach isn't so nice about it." You nod, thank him for the warning, and run back over to your best friend and your boyfriend.  
"To put it in laymen's terms, he asked me to tell you guys to stopping being fucktards and start playing, what the hell are we doing today, basketball with the other assholes." ED sighs, KK frowns, they both stop glaring at each other, you world is back to normal. Coach let you three play by yourselves. For being so lankily built, you are surprisingly talented at basketball. You told KK and ED to be on one team, you'd be on the other by yourself. You won. Twice. And then it was time to change. You didn't have to change last week, and today you were the first one into the locker room so everyone couldn't stare at your bruises, but now you get to change in front of everyone. Including Eridan. And Karkat. Awesome. You walk in and head straight for your locker. You just now realize that Karkat is directly to your left and Eridan is directly to your right. You bite your bottom lip and grab your clothes out. You notice quite a few eyes on you as you take off your gym shirt. Your body isn't too muscular, but there are some defined places on your torso. You quickly put your normal shirt, the one Eridan forced you to wear, and start to take off your gym sweats. You never wear shorts. You're okay with people seeing your scars, just not for long periods of time. So changing in front of people doesn't matter. Wearing shorts is different. You pull on your skinny jeans in what you consider a record time. You sit on the bench behind you and tie each of your shoes. You stand, turn to face the bench, put on your backpack, step over the bench, and start to leave the room. You give a meager wave to KK and ED, saying simply, "See you outside." You could hear the awkward silence from outside, where you waited impatiently for your boyfriend. KK was going to use the other door as usual. It's closer to his classroom. So you waited for ED, watching guys trickle outside one by one, or occasionally in a pair or small group. That's when you hear a slamming sound and drop your backpack on the ground. You run back into the locker room and your anger flourishes at the site you see.  
Eridan is being held up by his shirt collar.  
He's being pushed against the lockers.  
You're glad he isn't wearing his glasses when you watch one, two punches strike his face.  
"You drop him right now; maybe I don't break your arm." You're mad. You're not thinking. You mean that threat. You mean it with your whole heart. The boy who turns to look at you has slightly cracked glasses and dark blonde hair to his shoulders. He's muscular. Extremely muscular. This doesn't register in your mind. All that registers is that he's hurting someone you love and you'd be dead if you let a loved one get hurt. "I said. Drop. Him." Now you're brain registers this boy's name, it's Equius Zahhak.  
"Like I'd listen to a mutt like you." He scoffs and aims to punch your boyfriend again. He doesn't realize that you really are quick. He's strong; you're quick, have an actual brain, and aren't as weak as you look. You have a feeling you might win this. You grab hold of the arm he had raised to punch ED and bend it behind his back, which you then drive a knee into. He gasps, somewhat shocked, and drops Eridan who you then hear gasp a bit for breath.  
"You see that comment," you bend his arm backwards a bit more, using the knee in his back for leverage, "earned you a broken arm." You bend it a bit farther and hear a loud, painful even just to your ears, cracking sound. "Yeah, I'm the mutt." The bell to end fifth period rings and you help Eridan up. He still seems frightened, he holds tightly to your arm, and you calmly lead him to pick up your backpack and head to sixth period. You leave Equius there to suffer.  
One thing you're sure Eridan learned today:  
You will never let anything, or more specifically anyone, hurt him.


	18. Chapter 18

You're name is Eridan Ampora and you guess it's a good thing that the boy you're in love with isn't a complete wimp.  
You just about got your ass kicked by Equius, until Sollux broke his arm. You hope no one saw that happen. You know for a fact that the principle won't believe Sol did that if Eq were to say he did, but if someone else backed up his story Sol would be screwed. Suddenly there's a note tossed over your shoulder. There's only one person who sits behind you and that is your boyfriend. You unfold it and grab out a pencil to respond.  
_So you want to tell me why I just broke that asshole's arm?  
Uh… Well… let's just say him and I have a bad history.  
Details please_  
You frown but oblige to his request. _He used to be this scrawny kid and a chunk of the popular crowd would always pick on him. I was part of that chunk and uh… kinda led the group most of the time… I thought he wasn't mad about it anymore, but I guess I was wrong._  
You hear him let out an irritated sigh. _Nice job. Let's hope I don't get caught.  
Yeah… Thank you for saving me._  
He doesn't give you back the note. He simply pockets it like usual. You pay little attention in math and let your mind wander to what actually caused him to start attacking you today.

Sollux has just left the room. Karkat heads out the other direction in seconds. You finish changing as many of the boys around you start to leave. You have to take home a packet for your mom to sign, so you start to shove that in your backpack when you hear, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the popular gay boy. Dating the new kid right? Ha! You barely know the prick!"  
"Don't call him a prick." You're used to people picking on you because you're gay. It happens a lot. So you ignore that part and instead defend your boyfriend. "You don't know him at all."  
"I can tell when someone is a prick. Or an ass. Or dating someone they shouldn't be." You look up at the blonde. He has a hoarse voice, very rough sounding. You raise an eyebrow at him and he elaborates, "He's a nobody, a nerd. You're a popular prep. You don't belong together."  
"Wow, so now Equius Zahhak is the new guy to go to for relationship advice. Got it. I'll make sure to spread that around." You roll your eyes and put your backpack on.  
"Break up with him."  
"When did I ask for your opinion? Oh, wait, I didn't. Mind your own fucking business. You're just a jock who's trying to act cool by talking to a member of the popular crowd. Leave me alone." You have a feeling you went just a bit too far there.  
"Just a jock? Trying to act cool? I'm trying to help you!" Yeah. A bit too far.  
"How are you trying to help me? You don't even know me!" Just have to throw a little bit of gas on the flames of course.  
"You ungrateful little bastard!" He picks you up by your shirt collar and slams you into the lockers behind you. Your glasses are still on the bench which is now underneath your feet. You hear footsteps and see somewhat of a red and blue blur to your left. He punches you twice in rapid succession and then you hear a threat which you can't make out. Maybe it's the fact that his fist is jammed in your throat and choking you, but you swear there are sparks coming from Sollux as he threatens Equius. You hear Eq make a comment back and then you brace yourself when he raises his arm again. Sollux is now behind him as you drop to the floor and gasp for air.

Equius Zahhak has some anger issues. You already knew this. He's also a body builder. Knew that too. What you didn't know is that he is obsessed with the popularity scale. The people on top like you, Feferi, and this stoner kid Gamzee, aren't allowed to date people at the bottom like Karkat, Tavros, and Sollux. You feel like there is a gap even between Kar and Tav and you don't know why. You decided to not tell Sol the real reason why he went after you because it didn't make much sense to you. You might tell him later, just not right now.  
The bell to end sixth period rings and Sollux grabs your hand as soon as you're both standing. You didn't get to kiss him at lunch like you had wanted; he had to go to the library for something. You two sit in your claimed spot at the back of the bus. He sits down first and you barely give him a second to get comfortable before you press your lips to his. You expect him to pull away but he doesn't, he kisses back. You pull back and grin when he puts his arm around your shoulders. Fef sits in the seat across from you and her usual smile grows when she notices his arm.  
"So you guys are dating for real now?!~" She giggles. "Good!~ It's adorable!~"  
Sol laughs, "Yeah, okay, FF. Whatever." You just smile. Fef goes on and on about how cute it is, while Sol and you throw in smartass comments and receive vicious glares from those sitting in front of you, the entire bus ride. You swear every last person stopped talking when the bus reaches your stop and Sol walks off with you and Fef. When the bus pulls away all three of you start laughing. "Did you notice how quiet they were?"  
"They're all jealous of Eridan!~" Fef giggles.  
"Wow. That's something I never would have expected to happen!" You laugh and follow Feferi in through the front door. You're closely followed by Sollux who it behind all three of you. Your mom is upstairs sleeping but should be up within the hour. You head to the kitchen and Sollux follows you. Feferi heads even farther upstairs.  
Your house has three floors. When you first enter your house, on the first floor of course, you are on hardwood flooring and to your right are three white carpeted steps that lead to the smaller living room. Your living room is composed of a large entertainment center on the wall farthest away from the steps, a matching white couch with three cushions that diagonally faces the TV set, and two dark leather recliners to the right of the couch that also face the TV diagonally, but from the opposite angle. To the left of the front door is the spiral staircase. Straight ahead is the large dining room and kitchen area. The dark, wooden, table seats two people on either side with one person able to sit on either end. The night Sol got invited to sleep over you had been sitting by Raymon at the head of the table. Sollux was to your left, your mom was in front of you, and Fef was in front of Sol. From the perspective of your front door, the kitchen is to the left of the table. Similar to Sollux's house, it has a bar counter. You usually eat breakfast while sitting on the stools set up there. The majority of the left wall is cupboards and shelves with tons and tons of cooking supplies and equipment. Your mom is a chef. This isn't the kitchen you're in though, this is the public kitchen your mom likes to show off and use for big dinners.  
You're on the second story. This would be your favorite floor if your room wasn't on the next one up. This floor is composed of three rooms. Your parents' room, which is straight ahead from when you exit the stairway, the computer room, which is called such for a reason and is to your left, and what your mother calls the teen kitchen, is to your right. The computer room is home to four LCD TVs, three desktop computers, and the wireless router. You notice Sol perk up when he sees the glowing lights from the router. "You guys have wi-fi? And I wasn't informed of this why?" You laugh at him and continue making the same honey pastry you made him the first time he was over. This kitchen is just that, a kitchen. There's not much to it. Instead of having all of these fancy, expensive, ingredients, it's full of quick, easy, and junky foods, which you combine to make random deserts or unhealthy snacks. Currently you're making the latter. You watch Sol set his backpack on the small, circular table that resides in this kitchen. He unzips one of the pockets and carefully removes something and sets it on the table. The bottom of the thin rectangle is a sun colored yellow and the top look to you like raw pieces of a broken cell phone. He grabs a case that you can tell used to be clear but was spray painted black and covers the top half with it.  
"What's that?"  
"Laptop. I made it from scratch. Well, not quite. I had to take apart quite a few old cell phones to get the processor and screen to run right but oh well." He shrugs and your jaw drops.  
"You **built** a computer?"  
He smiles and looks up at you, "Yeah. What, did you think I only knew how to program one?" He scoffs, "Programming is boring when you don't get to keep the final product."  
"You couldn't have just bought a laptop?" He sits down at the table and opens the laptop, quickly turning it on. You watch as a blue screen comes up, the one that usually means the computer has just crashed. You walk over and set an arm on his shoulder as you watch his fingers fly over the keys. "What are you typing in?"  
"The password to get it to actually boot up." He finishes the ridiculously long code and you watch the screen suddenly come to life. There are three accounts on the computer, you ask him why. He points to the one on the left, "Hacking," the one in the middle, "Programming," the one on the right, "Goofing off." He clicks the one on the right and another password screen pops up. He types this one in quickly; it's a short word or two. You ask him what it is. He smirks. "It's a secret." You frown at him though you have a feeling he literally meant that the password is "a secret." The oven beeps and you walk over to open it. You're about to reach in to grab the tray with your honey pastries when he says, "Pot holder." You look over at him. "You're going to burn your hand. Get a pot holder."  
You hit your palm to your forehead, "Duh. I'm just the biggest, most absolute, genius sometimes." He chuckles. You grab out the tray, with pot holders, and set it on the stove to cool. You hear the keys click in protest to his speeding fingers. "How can you type so fast?"  
"Practice. What do you think I do all day when I'm hiding from my dad in my room?" He frowns and adds, "By the way, no, I couldn't have just bought a laptop. My dad spends all his extra cash on fucking alcohol of every make and brand." You frown and put each pastry on a small plate. You set them on the table, one where you plan to sit, one next to his laptop. He looks up and goes to thank you when you gently kiss him. You're hand is placed on his cheek, both of his are still resting on his keyboard. When you pull away you notice the pink tint that has spread across his cheekbones. He hasn't blushed much darker than that, but you've officially set a goal to see how dark his face can get. He lets out a breath filled and slightly stuttered, "Th-Thanks…" You grin and sit down next to him. You spend the next half hour eating and laughing at the way he tries to answer your computer questions.  
You didn't realize how lucky you really got until now.


	19. Chapter 19

Your name is Sollux Captor and that was the most terrifying nightmare you've ever had.  
You have a history of nightmares. You also have a history of insomnia and usually end up on the computer all night long. For the past nights that you've spent at Eridan's house, it really hasn't been too bad. You've been sleeping through a lot of the night and haven't really had any nightmares worth mentioning. But this one hit you hard and you woke up only because ED was leaning over you and shaking you. Tears are running down your face and he asks if you're okay. You look him in the eye for a split second before shaking your head no and hiding in his chest. You grab on to his shirt and try to stop trembling. You're not crying, you're trying to regain your breath. He rubs your back gently and mutter, "Sol, it's okay, it was just a dream… It's okay…"  
"You were dead, Eridan…" You barely manage to speak.  
"What? Sol, what happened in your dream?"  
"I…," you pull back and look up at him, "I was f-forced two k-kill you…"  
His eyes widen and he pulls you back into his chest. "It's okay. I'm here now. I'm alright."  
"I had to kill you o-or this guy, I don't even kn-know what he l-looked like, was going to b-bomb an entire hospital… I… I couldn't let him but… But it was you! I had to kill you!" Tears fall down your cheeks again and you let a sob wrack through your entire body. He pets your hair comfortingly.  
"It's okay, Sol… Shh… It's okay… I'm okay…" He mutters soothing words into your right ear, but they don't help. You know why killing him was so terrible. You can't say it out loud, you won't.  
Killing Eridan Ampora was only so terrifying for you because you're in love with him.


	20. Chapter 20

Your entire school day was full of envious glares at Eridan, you cracking smartass jokes, and getting yelled at when you kissed him in class.

You didn't even kiss his lips. You kissed his cheek. And your English teacher yelled at you, causing you to burst out laughing. Feferi told your teacher that she had dared you to and she backed off. Now you sit on the bus, laughing over the glares you keep getting. When it's almost to ED's stop you mention that, "I'm going to get off at my spot, less evil glares that way." You lean over and whisper in his ear that he should, "Meet me over there, okay?" He blushes darkly, guessing at what you meant. You figure his guess is rather close to what you're imagining right now. The step-siblings get off at their usual stop, you get off at yours as well, and the looks go down a bit. You walk hands in your pockets to your front door and grab out your key. You've barely got the door unlocked when you hear a car pull into the driveway. You turn around and smile. "That was quick."

"Yup, motivation does that to a person."

"Oh? And what was your motivation?" You grin broadly, already knowing his answer.

"Y-You." He blushes slightly and your smile grows even more at the slight stutter.

"Seems like a pretty good reason to me." He goes to call you something, most likely an ass, but your lips are already pressed to his. You pull back and grab hold of his hand, dragging him inside. You shut the door behind you and lock it tightly. When you turn around to face Eridan again he's already right there and a shy kiss is gently placed on your lips. You would roll your eyes if you weren't busy wrapping your arms around his waist and pulling him closer to you. His hands loosely slip around your neck and you feel those butterflies again when they slide up to your hair. You savor the moment. To you it's a perfect kiss with the perfect person. You always feel so broken, like a jagged edge that will never fit with anything, but he's just as rough. He only appears to be a smooth side and that appearance is so alluring to you that you can't take your eyes off it. He pulls away and you realize that you're both panting for breath, this makes you grin with a triumphant feeling. You let a hand trail down his side a bit more and stop at his hip, before sliding that same hand up his shirt. You trail your slender fingers over his toned stomach and grin when you see the red covering his face. It dawns on you that he's rather sensitive there. You let your grin change into a smirk followed by you gently dragging your nails over the slight six-pack he has. He lets out a breathy swear and you lean down a bit to kiss his neck gently. You softly suck on another sensitive spot by his collarbone and he sighs contentedly.

You think you hear a clicking sound from behind you.

The door swings open and you freeze only momentarily before releasing Eridan long enough to spin around and stand protectively in front of him. "You weren't supposed to be home until Friday."

You're blocking Eridan from your father, the man you can't stand yet can't manage to hate. His black hair is almost identical to yours in color, though his is exceedingly more disheveled than yours and quite a bit shorter. You set your features into a poker face as his brown eyes, which seem to have that same soft red glow as your own brown eye, narrow towards you. "Looks like I came home fucking early now didn't I?" You could hear the slur in his voice, he was drinking already. You would glare at him, show him all of the disgust you currently feel, but you are not going to get beaten in front of your boyfriend. Not now, not ever. That is something you will not force him to see. "So who's this? Finally got a fucking friend who'll put up with your shitty attitude?" You want to yell back at him, to scream, to argue, to show some attempt at standing up for yourself. You just stay quiet. His eyes widen a bit and then narrow back into that hard set glare you are used to on his features. You look more like your mom, thank god. You couldn't live with yourself if you looked like him. "He is your goddamned boyfriend isn't he? You told me you liked **some** asshole guys, but an actual fucking boyfriend?! And dragging him into **_my_** fucking house?! Since when are you a motherfucking **_fag_**?!" You stay quiet. You know any response you give him will validate hitting you, at least to him. Eridan caught on quickly; he hasn't spoken a word since the door opened. "You're an ungrateful little bitch, you know that, Sollux? So fucking ungrateful." You grit your teeth and allow your usual mantra to flow through your mind. _Don't get angry… Don't show him you care… Stay quiet… Don't get hurt…_ Your mantra cracks, shatters is more like it, when you hear, "And of all the fucking fags you go for, you choose this hipster prick?!"

You can't stop yourself now, the words start flowing and the dam is broke.

"And of all the fucking things to do when I leave home without telling you, you **_break two of my ribs_**?! Of all the **_fucking things _**for you to do when you get home, you **_yell _**at mefor actually being happyfor one**_ mother fucking minute _**of my shitty life?!" He looks like you just slapped him. You kind of wish you actually did. "I bet you were drinking as soon as you stepped foot on that plane here. Probably got fired, that's why you were sent back early. Probably had another four or five drinks in the airport. Probably chugged another five or six at a bar on the way home. Probably got the car towed and took a taxi, or the bus; it would explain me not hearing your car pull into the driveway. Probably won't pay the next month's rent and then blame it on me because you say you 'provide,'" you make sure to throw in some pissed off air quotes, "for me when really all you do is buy alcohol. Probably-"

There it is.

The punch to your stomach that you knew was coming. You expect the knee to your face his tries to throw in and lean to the side. "For once!" You stand up straight again, one arm over your stomach, "I'm leaving **_before_** you make me feel like dying because everything just **_hurts_**. And oh, try to stop me, or even touch **_my boyfriend_**, yeah, you were right, that's what he is, and I will have **_no_** restraint anymore. I **_will_** hurt you, badly. You've done it to me enough times I'm surprised I haven't killed you yet." You grab onto Eridan's hand and he holds on tightly as you walk past your dad and shut the door behind you.

You manage to keep up the act until you pull out of the driveway in Eridan's car and start to drive away. You can't hold back the tears that fall off your chin, but you refuse to let out a sob. Eridan holds your right hand tightly with both of his. He watches your face and adds in soothing words you would only accept from him. You know he was scared. You know he was only scared **_for_** you, not of you. He leans over and kisses your wet cheek so gently it's as if he fears you might break.

You feel like you already have.


	21. Chapter 21

The next morning you type out another program for your Mr. Wells but you're barely thinking. You don't have to think about what you're typing; your fingers just find the keys for you. Something seems off and you just can't place what it is. Well, all through first period you can't.

The bell rings and you enter the hallway. As you near Eridan's first period classroom so you can walk with him, you notice his absence. He went to school. You know he did. You were at his house. You were on the bus with him. His bag is gone as well. You frown, thinking that maybe he just went to second period without you today. When you arrive in Chemistry he's still not there. You asked Feferi if she's seen him since this morning. She says no and frowns, a worried look starting to form on her features. You have a bad feeling and suddenly you decide to go back to his first period and talk to his teacher. FF says she'll tell Mr. Joans you went to the bathroom. You thank her and throw your bag back over your shoulders before jogging to Eridan's first period. You ask his teacher if she's seen him, she says there was a man here to talk to him and he went to the office but never came back. You clench your jaw and walk to the office. When you ask the kind lady behind the desk if she's seen Eridan Ampora she nods. "Can you tell me where he went from here?" She looks like she doesn't want to, "Please? I'm his boyfriend and he didn't show up to second period, I'm just worried about where he ended up."

You receive a soft smile of approval at this. "He left with a man who happened to look kind of like you. Same hair and eye color, somewhat of the same build."

He what? "Uhm, did the man have one blue eye and one brown eye like me? Or just brown?"

She cocks an eyebrow, "Just brown."

You feel like you're going to throw up. "You shouldn't have let him leave that man. You shouldn't have let that man even speak to him." Your shaking and she sets a hand over the fist you have resting on her desk.

"Honey, what's wrong? Why shouldn't he have left with that man?" She sounds concerned and speaks quickly.

"Because he's going to hurt him." You stand up so fast that the chair you were in falls over backwards. "He's going to hurt him badly." You turn and run from the office straight to the door that leads to the parking lot. You grit your teeth and sprint to where you now know Eridan is. Your father kidnapped him. Your father is going to damage him so that he'll stay away from you.

You hope you make it there in time.

…

Your name is Eridan Ampora and cod does your head hurt.

The last thing you remember is getting called down to the office to talk to someone… It was Sollux's dad. He told you he wanted to talk outside. You said fine. You walked outside with him and then… And then you think he hit your head with something causing you to pass out. That would also explain this aching feeling on the upper left side of your forehead. You try to reach up and see if your bleeding or anything and realize that both or your wrists are tied down to the arm rests of a chair. You groan and, if you weren't the one tied down, would probably laugh at how cliché this is. You try to move your feet to no avail, they're tied too. You frown and realize how psycho-killer like this has become. Did he really just kidnap you? You wonder if he shoved you in some dirty white truck or van, it helps you to calm down when you think of the clichés going on right now. The room you're in doesn't seem to dark, there is plenty of natural light coming from something behind you. You crane your neck to see what and frown as the next cheesy cliché hits you. You're in a fucking cabin in some forest somewhere. Wow, so original. You hear frantic feet running towards you and smile in relief when you see a panting Sollux run by the window and straight to the door. You hear him fumble with the lock and guess that his hands are shaking. You wonder how long he's been running. He opens the door and shuts it behind him, making sure to relock it as his panting breaths add noise to the room. "How long have I been out?" He turns and faces you, rushing over and dropping his bag to the floor on the way. He goes straight for the binds on your wrist.

"He knocked you out? Great. So I have another thing to kick his fucking ass for. We're at three so far, but it's quite a bit more if you count everything he did to me individually." You watch him cut the rope around your wrist with a pocket knife. You don't remember him having that before.

"You didn't answer my question. And where'd you get that knife?"

"I grabbed it from him. More accurately grabbed it out of me I guess." You're about to ask him what happened when he pulls up his right sleeve and shows you the tourniquet he made of a ripped piece of shirt. You look down to the bottom of his black tee and sure enough its ripped up high enough that you can start to see his scarred stomach. He's now freed both of your wrists and he starts at your ankles when he answers your first question, "It took me twenty minutes of running and then 30 minutes on a stolen bike to get here, plus another five-ten minutes of fighting him. So probably an hour and a half, considering the fact that I didn't know you were gone until second period." He finishes cutting you free and then looks up at your face for the first time. "That little fucking bastard." He runs over to his backpack and is back before you can ask him what's wrong. He rips off a bit more of his shirt and grabs a water bottle from his bag. He soaks part of the cloth and dabs it gently to your throbbing left forehead. He wipes at it gently and you realize that yes, you were bleeding. He sets the wet piece of cloth and the water bottle back in the outside pocket of his bag. When he turns back to face you he surprises you with a deep kiss. "Don't ever go near him without me again. I can't let him hurt you like this…" Sol runs a gentle thumb over your injury. He stands up a bit quicker than he was ready for and you realize how dizzy he must actually be right now. You frown as he shakes it off quickly and holds out a hand to help you up. You stand up and wrap your arms around his still broken ribs as carefully as you can manage. He puts one hand on your upper shoulder blade and the other at the base of your neck. "I'm so glad I got here when I did…"

"Thank you for helping me, Sol… I know you don't believe me, but," you pull away from him and his arms drop to his sides, "I really do love you." He doesn't meet your eyes and instead grabs hold of your hand.

As he picks up his bag and leads you to the door he mutters something along the lines of "Let's go." He reaches to unlock it and freezes. "Son of a bitch… ED, back up." You do as he says and grimace when the door is kicked open. Once again Sol stands protectively in front of you.

You wonder when this game will end.


	22. Chapter 22

Your name is Sollux Captor and you just stole some idiot's bike.  
You've been running for twenty full minutes and gog that was just too much. You'd never make it to your old family cabin at this rate. Then opportunity struck you. Your acute hearing noticed somewhat of a whirring noise. You knew it was a bicyclist and that they're extremely caring a lot of the time. You fell directly over and acted as if someone had just jumped you, which was easy because you've experienced as such before. The unassuming rider guessed that you needed help and stopped his bike only a foot or two away. He comes over, uttering a sincere, "Hey, are you all right?" You pull him down by his arms and hop up, quickly swinging your leg over the side of his bike.  
"I'm really sorry about this but the person I love is in danger." You add in as he starts to try and get up that, "If you stay here I'll bring it back within the next two hours, you have my word." You hurriedly begin to pedal away and manage to reach the isolated cabin in what was most likely around a half hour, though to you it felt like hours at a time. The somewhat run-down building used to make you excited when you came up here every summer, but now it scares the shit out of you. For all you know your boyfriend is dead in there. That thought makes you want to scream. You're about to stop the bike and run up to the door when you hit something and the bike somewhat flips over and launches you a few feet away. You groan as a shooting pain floods your ribs and spreads through the majority of your torso. You look up as a shadow hits your face.  
"I can't believe you really fucking showed up. So pathetic ass wipe, so fucking pathetic." Your father crams a steel-toed boot into your already injured ribs. "And so," another kick, "fucking," and another, "gullible!"  
You swear you just growled. Your foot flies into his stomach and you kick him away from you. "At least I **_protect_** the people I fucking _**LOVE**_ instead of hating everyone and hurting them instead!" You stand up and face the one person that you have ever been afraid of. You realize that you're grateful you only have one of his eyes. The redness that seems to appear within that color frightens you. You love having the deep yet soft hues of your mother's blue eyes in your own left eye. It differs you from him.  
What else differs you from him is the fact that you actually know what love is.  
He frowns and you can't believe what comes out of his mouth. "I just wanted to make you into a good man, Sollux… That's all I've ever wanted…"  
"You're a fucking asshole, you know that? 'Cause I learned it years ago." His act drops and you gasp when you see a shining pocket knife in his hand, the blade already flipped out and at the ready. "Gog dammit…" The man you despise runs at you. You try to side-step out of his reach but he manages to stab the knife in your right arm. You bite your lip to keep from groaning as you carefully rip it out. "Thanks for the weapon…" He tries to punch you and you slice a cut into his arm. "I hate the fact that I have to stoop to your fucking level." That hit home hard. He clenches his jaw and manages a good punch onto your aching ribs. You groan but mark his arm with the knife again. You have to get him away from you so you can help Eridan. You hate what this has come to, but you shove your arm forward and stab into his abdomen. He falls over for the force of the stab. You rip off part of the bottom of your shirt and tie it around your bleeding arm as a tourniquet. Once you sprint up to the door of the cabin, you reach into the plant next to you and grab the stored key. You have some trouble managing to unlock the door through your panting breaths and shaky hands but you do accomplish it. You lock the door behind you and breathe a sigh of relief when you hear a quiet, "How long have I been out?" from behind you.

You stand in front of Eridan, blocking him from the door that was just kicked open before you could open it yourself.  
You're shocked when it's a police officer. One you happen to know well. It's Latula Pyrope. She's arrested you a few times for vandalism and minor accounts of you stealing things. You also know her from the one time you dated her little sister, Terezi. "Captor? What the fuck are you doing here?"  
"You get called out for a stolen bike?" You frown.  
"Yeah. And then I found your dad over there bleeding. Why don't you tell me what happened?"  
"I was saving my boyfriend from my asshole of a dad. That's what happened. I told the guy I'd bring his bike back within two hours. It hasn't even been an hour yet." She shoves her palm to her forehead.  
"So you stole a bike, to stab your dad, to rescue this kid behind you?" She rolls her eyes behind her red-tinted shades. "Sollux, if I didn't know how weird your life really is I would have just arrested you." You frown. "You can give me the details while I drive you two to the hospital. Both of you are bleeding everywhere." You smile gently.  
"Thanks, Latula."  
"Hey!"  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. 'It's officer Pyrope to you!'" She smiles and leads you to her cruiser. You both have to sit in the backseat but her car isn't set up for transporting criminals, it's just a normal backseat. She loads the borrowed bike onto her bike rack before getting in the car. You grimace as the ambulance for your father pulls in and you pull out of the dirt driveway. You don't think he deserves anyone caring about his health when everything he did was to stump your own. You spend the car ride telling her everything that happened today and then explaining almost everything he's done to you.  
You hope she gives him what he deserves.


	23. Chapter 23

Eridan was freshly reminded of your fear of hospitals when the cruiser pulled into the parking lot.  
You held on tightly to his hand and walked stiffly towards the doors. Latula asked if you were okay and he had to answer for you because your mouth just wouldn't make the words you wanted to say. "He's terrified of hospitals."  
You bite your bottom lip and nod when she asks "Really?" She smirks, "Well then. Now I know how to scare the shit out of you the next time I catch you with a can of spray paint." You shoot her a silent glare. "Hey, so I never caught your boyfriend's name?"  
You smile slightly at the word boyfriend and ED speaks up, "Eridan Ampora." Latula checks you in and you two are cared for swiftly after she showed off her badge. While you're waiting to be allowed to check out, Latula mentions something you didn't expect.  
"I'm dating your brother." You choke on some of the water you were drinking. She laughs at this and adds in that, "He's a great help in raising Terezi."  
You finish coughing and give her a confused look. "You? And Mituna? I just can't see it, sorry."  
She smiles wide, "Thanks, kid. I knew you'd approve." You let the smirk you were trying to hide show all the way. "So why you dating rich kid?" Eridan is currently out of the room getting his forehead stitched up. You smile down at the floor.  
"I'm in love with him. I have been since the first day I met him."

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you can't believe what you just heard.  
Sollux said he loved you, that he has since the first day you two met. But you remember clearly when he said that you'd have work to do to get him to love you. You stop dead in your tracks, a few feet away from the door of the room Sollux and Latula are in. You let your confused thoughts run through your mind and then suddenly you choke on your own breath. All of your fear from what was less than an hour ago suddenly struck you. Sollux sticks his head out of the door to look for you and his eyes widen when he sees how frozen you are. "ED?" He runs out of the room and pulls you instantly into a hug. "Hey… Hey it's okay…" You let a sob wrack through you. "Shh… It's okay… Let it out…" He rubs your back gently, just like you did to him the night you had to save him from his nightmare. You bury your face into his neck and one of his hands reaches up to gently stroke your hair. "Shh… It's okay, ED… It's okay…" You eventually manage to calm down and pull away from him. "Feel better?" You nod quietly and he kisses your forehead. "Come on; let's get out of this place already. I hate it here." He grabs hold of your hand and leads you towards the door of the room where he asks for a ride back to your house from Latula. She says sure and gets out of her chair. Your mom rushes outside when you pull into the driveway and she looks like she's about to kill something.  
"Please tell me you weren't arrested? And that you're okay?"  
"Not arrested. Yes, mom, we're fine. At least now we are." She rushes over and hugs you before doing the same to Sollux. "Wow, mom, you act like Sol is your kid too."  
"He might as well be." She thanks Latula many times before herding you both inside. "Okay, so which one of you is telling me what happened?" Sollux volunteered and he, albeit somewhat awkwardly, told her everything that has been going on with him in the past three years. He did leave out one thing; that you two had at first been only pretending to date. You realize that you finally know why he was more than just okay with that.

Your name is Sollux Captor and you think you have a plan.  
You need to finally tell Eridan. You know you do. The issue was that you had no idea how to bring it up. Now, while you lie back on his bed and stare up at the ceiling, you think you've got an idea. "Hey, ED?"  
He sits up and looks at you. "Yeah?"  
You tilt your head up to look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."  
You watch his lips tilt up in a sad smile and a bit of laughter is released. "Yeah, okay. You shouldn't be the sorry one. You went through that for years. I got a day's worth. If anything, I feel terrible for you, Sol." You sit up and turn back around so you're facing him, now sitting criss-crossed on his bed. You frown at him. "What?" You grab hold of his collar and pull him harshly to you so you can press your lips to his. He seems shocked at first but his hands slowly land one on your shoulder and the other on your cheek. You lace your fingers in the back of his hair and wrap your other hand around his back. Suddenly he pulls away and you both pant softly but don't move your hands. "Y-You know… For someone who d-doesn't love me… you r-really like to kiss me…" You frown again and he raises his eyebrows in a question.  
"I never said that I didn't love you."


	24. Chapter 24

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS HARDCORE BOYXBOY SMUT**

**IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT**

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you are quite confused.

"What?" You act like you never heard him tell Latula anything in the hospital. "But you s-said—"

"I know what I said." You frown at this and let out a quiet question somewhere along the lines of "Then why?" but you're so quiet you don't think he heard you. "I've loved you since I met you, ED. I just didn't believe it." You feel your face heat up a bit and go to say something but he's kissing you again and this time you just let him. You can't argue with him, even if you really wanted to, after what he went through to save you today. His hand slides down your back before sliding back up and into your shirt. Sollux's nails running down your spin send shivers through your whole body. He pulls back again and you pant deeply. It took all of your being to not let out a moan when he's suddenly kissing your neck. His tongue runs over your collarbone and that moan slips out quietly. He freezes for a second before nuzzling into your neck. "That was so fucking adorable, ED…"

"Sh-Shut up…" Your face is burning with blush. "S-So… You do love me?" He leans away from you just enough so you can see his dual colored eyes. You don't think you've ever seen a smile as beautiful as the gentle one he's giving you right now. Your breath catches in your throat at the sight of it and the way it touches all of his features. His eyes crinkle just a small amount at the corners and his entire face seems to glow.

"Eridan," he really hasn't called you that in a while; "I love you. I love you more than anything or anyone on this planet. Is that clear enough for you yet?" You throat seems to have sealed shut because you can't breathe right as you feel a tear slide down your cheek. His hand leaves your hair and the pad of his thumb wipes away the tear. He kisses you again but this one is so soft and warm that your stomach twists. He pulls back too soon but he's got that smile again.

"You need to smile more…" He chuckles at you and the smile changes to a smirk.

"You're staring, ED." You feel your face get even warmer and you look away. He doesn't let you stay like that for long and grabs your chin with thin fingers to turn you towards him. He tries to not laugh but it slips out when he says, "But then again, I could stare at you all day…" He presses his rough lips back onto your soft ones and you feel his tongue glide over your bottom lip. You open your mouth far enough for his tongue to slide in and explore, managing to get a few noises out of you. He finds that one spot that gets you to moan every time and has fun messing with it while you blush darkly. You groan when he pulls away leaving both of you a bit dazed. Sollux grins and moves back to your neck, though he's a bit more vicious this time. He nips lightly at softer spots of skin before trailing his tongue over them and then kissing softly. You bite down on your lip tightly to keep the majority of noises inside you. You didn't realize he was edging you back against the bed until you hit the pillows and he straddles your waist. Both of his hands are on your abs but they don't stay there. Sooner than you expected his nails are sliding up your sides and bringing your shirt with them. His mouth moves away from your neck and collarbone area and you gasp when he licks over the indentation between your abs. You barely hear the light chuckle he makes before he pulls your shirt over your head. He kisses you again before sliding back down to kissing and licking and nipping at your torso. You groan when his hand just barely skims over your now too tight skinny jeans. He looks up at you and laughs quietly before teasing you by running his elusive tongue over your exposed upper hip bones. Your hips attempt to buck up a bit but you force them to stay down. He licks just above your pant line and you can't stop your hips from bucking this time. You feel more than hear his amused chuckle. He heads back to your lips at which point you tug incessantly at the hem of his shirt. Sollux pulls away and sits up with a frown and when his shirt is over his head you realize why. "Not a pretty picture, right?" You push him over so that you're now pinning him down. You know he couldn't have stopped you even if he wanted to due to his unused muscles.

You push a passionate kiss into his lips before pulling away to tell him that, "I'll love you no matter what scars you carry…" There are hundreds of little marks all over his torso accompanied by a few larger ones. Each mark stands out darkly against his pale skin. You could care less as your hands graze over his thin stomach. You grin when you see the light blush across his cheeks. You lean down and do the same to Sollux's skin as he was doing to you barely a minute before, though you are much gentler. His noises are soft, contented is more accurate. You nip at a certain point of weakness and he gasps quietly before biting his lip. You smile softly as your tongue glides over his hip bones and the soft area of skin just above his jeans. The greater part of his skin is rough from constantly having to heal over again and again, but he's untainted to you. You see no imperfections, just Sollux. One of your hands rests on his left hip and then other glides over his jeans to land just above the slight bulge that is growing. He groans and you snicker. Your mouth still teases just above his jeans but you're done being gentle. You bite at the edges of his prominent bones and then suck at the marks you make. He moans quietly but mainly just bites his lip. Feferi is at a friend's house and you already heard your mom and Raymon leave for their dinner date, so you wonder what noises you can push out of him. The idea is tantalizing and you grin wickedly causing him to puff out some air and question you. "Nothing… Nothing…" You kiss him so he'll forget about it and he does, for now at least. Then, while your lips are still connected to his, you let your fingers slither to the button of his jeans. You undo it and pull down the zipper and before he could even think of protesting your hand is in his boxers. He pulls away from the kiss with a gasp and then a loud moan. You smile wide at Sollux and he blushes darkly while he turns away. You slowly let your hand trail over his erection, making it become even harder. He bites his lip but moans and groans still manage to slip out as you pick up pace. A few strangled curses and mutters of your name fall off his tongue. You smirk and release him to slide his boxers down past his hips. Sollux's eyes widen a bit as you lower yourself to him and flick your tongue out over the end. He shoves a hand over his own mouth but the other one twists into your hair. You lick back and forth on the sides of his boner before taking it in your mouth and sliding up and down. Your head bobs a bit as his moans get louder, even with his hand trying to conceal them. You let your teeth drag over the sides at one point and his entire body shivers.

You don't expect it when he pushes you off and pins his lips to yours harshly. He chuckles at your dazed expression. "You're the virgin, remember?" The blush that covers your face is apparently extremely amusing because he laughs before kissing you again. His hands do the same to your pants and boxers as yours did to his, except yours come completely off. He kicks his the rest of the way off and god when his bare thighs rest above yours the feeling is completely unnerving, but in an interesting way to you. He scoots himself down far enough to take your own erection into his mouth. You have a feeling your attempt at a blow job was nothing like this. He knows when to go slow and tease you, and when you feel like yelling at him he's already aware and has sped up. You feel all of the heat in your body heading to your bulge and it's as though you're about to break. You let out a loud moan of his name along with a few garbled swears and he pulls away. "Like I'd let you get off that easy." He's back to your lips now and his tongue is just prodding over your teeth, your tongue, it always lands back on that one spot he found earlier. You moan loudly now and you're achingly hard. Sollux's hand slides down to finish off what he started with his mouth and you decide to do the same to him. He pulls off of your mouth and his face lands in a part of the comforter around you. He groans audibly now and you blush darkly when you hear a deep moan of your name. Both of you reach your breaking point at a similar time, though yours is sooner. He almost collapses next to you but instead groans and stands. "Come on, let's take a shower."


	25. Chapter 25

Your name is Sollux Captor and you're not a fan of Vriska Serket.

You were sitting in the living room on the first floor, head hanging off a cushion of the couch and your feet dangling over the back of it, and watching a movie with Eridan when the front door opened. You just barely sat up to see Feferi walk in, with a group of four girls all around your age, smiling and laughing. After rolling your eyes, you dropped your head back and resumed watching. Suddenly there were hands around your ankles and someone pulled on your legs in a way that caused you to lose your precarious balance and fall off the side of the couch with a shocked yelping sound. ED laughed lightly and you sat up on the floor to rub at your head. "Ow. What was that for?" You look up at your assailant and find it to be one of FF's friends. She cackles and FF holds out a hand to help you up. You take it with a mutter of thanks and stand with a groan.

"Vriska, that wasn't nice!" You take note of the pale girl with long black hair, wire rimmed and almost circular glasses, and dark blue lipstick. FF looks at you apologetically, "Sorry about that, Sollux." You mutter something along the lines of acceptance. "That is Vriska, but I guess you already figured that out huh?" You smirk. "Well, uh," she points to a girl with pointed red shades and to her shoulders ginger hair, "this is Terezi," then a tall girl with her short brown hair styled up and back, and tan skin, "and Kanaya," and then a short Asian girl with her shoulder length black hair hidden under a hat resembling a cat, the same one you know from chemistry and math class, "and you already know Nepeta."

You frown. "Does this mean I have to be a social person for once?" Eridan looks up at you from the couch and nods. You groan as you lie back over the arm of the couch and let your head fall in his lap.

You swear Nepeta squealed. "Omg, omg, omg, omgeee! You two are soooo cute! I totally ship it stiilll!" You just barely manage to not laugh as Eridan's face turns bright red. The short girl giggles and you grin.

Eridan leans down to bury his face in your chest so they can't see how red it is. He sits up when suddenly Nepeta is sitting to his left and she is definitely squealing. You chuckle and look up at his red face. "You embarrassed, ED?" He frowns at your teasing but you just grin.

"That is sooooooo cuuuuuute!" She giggles into her oversized coat sleeves. Terezi leans on the back of the couch behind her giggling friend and smiles wide before letting out a hoarse laugh, almost like it's a sound she makes too much.

"Calm down, Nepeta!" Even her voice is kind of hoarse and cackle-y.

"Like that's even** possible** for **her**." You already don't like the stuck up "I'm better than you" tone of Vriska's voice.

"Well, I think it could be quite possible for her if she were to actually want to be calm. It is Nepeta we are speaking of though." Kanaya sounds like a bookworm, one of those people who know too many words and enunciate them all more than just clearly. You tilt your head back farther to look at Nepeta and she blushes darkly when you smirk at her.

"What are you thinking of there, Nep?" Eridan raises an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'm totally going to write a fanfic of you twoooo!~" You chuckle and ED's face looks worried.

"Nep. Do you mean a fanfic or a **fanfic**?" You laugh loudly and he shushes you. You know exactly what he meant by that.

"Hmmm… I don't know yet! Maybeee~ Both!~" He shoves a hand over your mouth when you start laughing again. "See?~ Sollyboo is okay with it!"

You sit up and turn so you're actually sitting normally before asking her, "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Sollyboo? Really?"

"Yesss!" All the other girls, except Kanaya, laugh at this. The tall brunette just smiles.

You roll your eyes and lean back against the arm of the couch. "Yeah, okay, whatever."

"Soooooooollyboo!" Vriska tries to tease you and you just glare slightly. "Haha! Makes you sound like a true gayboy!"

You raise an eyebrow, "Just because I'm dating ED, doesn't mean I'm gay." You receive questioning looks. "Pansexual, ladies, pansexual." Vriska smirks and leans over the back of the couch, pressing a kiss to your lips. You shove her away almost instantly. "The fuck?!" You shoot her a glare.

"Well, if you weren't gay, you would've enjoyed that." She smirks and you want to punch her for that snarky tone.

"Uh, no. It's not if I wasn't gay, it's if I wasn't dating someone who is a million times better at kissing than you. Or it could just be the fact that I can already tell you're a bitch." You smirk, eyebrows raised in a challenging expression.

She glares, "I bet you don't even like Eridan at aaaaaaaall!"

You smile. "You're right, I don't like Eridan." A worried look takes over ED's features. "I love him." He grins widely and even though it causes him to blush darkly, he leans over and kisses you. You kiss back, evilly dragging him down closer by his shoulders and just barely hearing NP squeal behind him. He pulls away and you beam at the red covering his face.

NP is squealing still, "EEEEEEE! THAT IS SOOOO CUUUUUTE! I SHIP IT, I SHIP IT, I SHIP IT SO HARD!" You aim your smile to Nepeta who continues her fangirling loudly, faced pressed into her sleeves.

"You okay there, Nepeta?" You hear some giggles as you wrap your arm around Eridan's shoulder. He snuggles up against you, no longer caring that the girls are there. She looks up at you and jumps across ED's lap to hug both of you at once.

"So. CUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!~" You just laugh at her again.

This should be an interesting night.


	26. Chapter 26

_KK. Help. II'm outnumbered here.  
WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?  
II mean. II'm 2urrounded. 5 giirl2 and an ED. Help.  
HOW ON THIS FUCKING EARTH WOULD I HELP YOU?  
Come two ED'2 hou2e!  
NO.  
Come on, plea2e?  
DID YOU JUST FUCKING POLITELY ASK ME?  
Nope. II don't know what you're talking about KK. II thiink you're iimagiiniing thiing2 agaiin.  
AGAIN?  
II don't know iit made 2en2e when II wa2 typiing iit._ You know Karkat would have sighed at the phone at that.  
_OKAY, YEAH, FUCKING WHATEVER. WHERE DOES THE ASSHOLE LIVE?_  
You smile and punch in the address._ Oh, and briing 2ome other a22hole2 two. The guy-giirl ratiio ju2t ii2n't faiir here.  
FUCK. WHY DO I HAVE TO DO ALL OF YOUR GODDAMN DIRTY WORK?  
Becau2e II don't have anyone el2e'2 number2  
I HATE YOU SOMETIMES  
Love you two, KK_  
You shove your phone in your pocket and tell Eridan that "I told KK to come over and bring some other guys so we aren't alone here."  
"You get used to it, but whatever." ED just shrugged and pulled out his own cell. He texted his mom that they were throwing a small party and received a text back that caused him to groan. "Fef, come look at this." He handed his step sister the phone and you arched an eyebrow in curiosity.  
"What? Reely?" She sounded excited. Eridan nodded with a different emotion. "Both of them?"  
"Yeah, apparently."  
"Yay!" FF did a little dance in front of the couch.  
"So I take it I have to tell them?" ED sighed. He sent out two texts, each almost identical. You asked him what was wrong. He showed you who the texts were to. "Our siblings. That's what's wrong. Mom and Raymon want Fef's sister Meenah and my brother Cronus to come watch us." He groaned again and this time laid his head in your lap. You pet his gelled hair gently.  
"Are they really that bad?" He nods and you try not to laugh when his hair tickles your stomach. You barely succeed. You make a face with the left corner of your mouth pulled back a bit and the other one normal. Suddenly he jolts up and you realize your phone just vibrated in your pocket. "Were you just scared by my phone going off? Really?" He blushes and you chuckle. You grab the device and respond to KK's asking of when you want him there, you simply said now.  
There's a knock on the door and FF gets up to open it. "Hi Meenah! Hey Cronus! Come on in!" A tall young man with slicked back dark brown hair, a scar resembling an Aquarius symbol on his forehead, and an unlit cigarette in his mouth, walked in the house next to a thin girl with short, messy, black hair that had two long black and pink braids coming out of it, pink rimmed and almost pointed glasses, and two gold rings for piercings on her left eyebrow. The male had on a plain white tank top and black jeans while his female counterpart wore a cut off black tee that stopped just under her bra and booty shorts.  
"Sup, chumps?" The girl, who you figured out quickly was Meenah, grinned at her little sister. Eridan suddenly sat up straight and you wondered why but didn't bother asking.  
"Hey doll, you guys throwin' a party?" Cronus smirked down at Feferi.  
With a giggle FF threw out a, "Yes! It's not going to be big, but it's gonna be awesome!" She grinned yet again. You guessed that Feferi liked the siblings better because Eridan looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and die.  
"Oh and hey look, it's the little man!" Meenah walks over and starts to carefully sculpt his hair back into place where the gel had been fading out.  
He smiled up at her, "Hey, Mee." And then it makes more sense to you. Eridan doesn't like his brother, but he likes his step-sisters. You make a mental note of that.  
"You mean 'Hey look, it's gay boy?'" Eridan cringes and Meenah covers his ears. She puffs out her cheeks and shoots a death glare to Cronus.  
"Yo, Cronus, be fucking nice for a change." She turns to you and says, "Hey, little man, who the fuck might this be? Boyfriend?~" She grins hopefully as Eridan's face turns a dark red.  
You return her grin with one of your own. "Yeah, that's me."  
She jumps once in excitement and does a fist-pump. "YES! HE FINALLY SCORED A HOT ONE! Oh, oops, was that my out loud voice?" You laugh and Eridan covers his face with both hands. "Oh come on, Er, I was jus' teasin'. Calm down.~" He looks up from his hands and goes to speak when Cronus starts talking again.  
"Wow, so we got two gay boys in the house. Great."  
You take a deep breath, stand up, turn around and face Cronus who was merely a foot behind your head when you were sitting down and smile viciously. "You know what? With the way you act towards Eridan's open gayness and the fact that he has a boyfriend who happens to be around you, I'm willing to bet any amount of money in the world that you almost got in a guy's pants once and then he rejected you because he said he was straight." You cross your arms as the room goes quiet, Meenah, FF and ED's mouths all drop, and Cronus's eyes widen. He's silent. No comeback, no response at all actually. You give him a smirk, "Point and case." You turn and sit back down on the couch next to Eridan and the door slams behind you. You snicker and the entire room lets out laughter of their own, especially Meenah.  
"Holy shit, little man. You got a feisty tuna here!" Meenah looked shocked and yet proud of you at the same time.  
"You don't even know the half a it, sis."  
You hope Cronus doesn't hate you too bad.


	27. Chapter 27

Wow, so, this was a bad idea.

Karkat, Tavros, and a stoner kid you barely know named Gamzee have all arrived. Cronus came back inside with them and promptly started hitting on everything in sight he wasn't related to, be it male or female and he even tried once at you. Then you happen to have an idea for something to do. "Hey, guys, let's play some Truth or Dare." Everyone agreed it sounded fun and you grinned. For a while, when everyone would say truth, it was just fine. Then it got bad as soon as that word crossed your lips.

"Pawlux!" Nepeta squealed your nickname and you looked at her, "Truth or dare?~"

"Dare." You emphasized your 'why not?' tone with a shrug.

"Hehehe! Kiss Karkitty on the lips!" She giggled into her sleeves as KK choked on his drink and your jaw dropped.

"Aw, come on, NP. I'm dating ED, not KK." You tried to get out of it and then you realized even Eridan wasn't going to let you do that.

"I don't mind. Go ahead.~" He had a testing tone, like he bet you wouldn't do it, and it made you want to hit him.

"Fine, fine." You stood up.

"For 10 seconds, Pawlux!" NP just had to make it worse.

"Yeah, yeah." You walk over to KK who is blushing darkly and you know everyone can see it. He was already asked who he had a crush on and after him dodging the question for a good five minutes you had finally told them it was you and received glares from him galore. You lean down to his sitting height with one hand pressed to the back of the chair and gently press your lips to his. NP starts counting.

"One~ Two~," KK is kissing you back now, "Three~ Four~," you feel his tongue daringly dash over your bottom lip, "Five~ Six~," then he nips at it, "Seven~ Eight~," licking again, "Nine~ Ten!~" You pull away and his face is the darkest shade of red you could possibly imagine. You flick your tongue out and lick your bottom lip quickly before wiping it off on your sleeve and returning to sitting next to Eridan, who you promptly put an arm around. Him, Nepeta, and a few of the other girls giggle.

"What?" You raise a brow down at him before turning to face Terezi's grin.

"I hope you realize that most of us wouldn't mind getting to kiss you, Sollux!" She cackled and you rolled your eyes.

"I'm not going to fucking make out with you all. That would be gross." Eridan leans into you a bit and you grin. "ED, however, I wouldn't mind making out with." He blushes and looks away from you as you chuckle. "Sooo… GZ." You turn to the lanky boy and he grins at you. "Truth or dare?"

"Give me a motherfucking dare, bro." His grin widens a bit.

You already knew what you wanted to say and you let it roll off your tongue quickly, "I dare you to get to second base with TV tonight." Said boy was in the bathroom right now.

He laughed, "I think I can give that a motherfuckin' shot there brother." You nod and he turns to Vriska. "Truth or dare, sis?"

"Dare of course!" She rolled her eyes as if he expected her to say something else.

"Pick a brother to give a motherfuckin' lap dance to." He nodded and laughed lightly. You swear her eyes flickered over to look at the bathroom.

"Since Sollux seems to be the only one even interested in girls…" She looked over at you and you raised a brow. You released Eridan, who then sat up straight and somewhat leaned on Meenah sitting to his left, and shrugged. You patted your lap with a smirk and she frowned before heading over. She stood in front of you before mentioning that, "You better not enjoy this too much, Sollux."

"Don't worry, I won't." She frowned again before proceeding with a thirty second lap dance which you deemed as shitty but GZ never said it had to be a good one.

VK then returned to her chair before saying, "Karkat!~ Truth or daaaaaaaare?~" You rolled your eyes, already knowing what he was going to choose.

"Dare." He had a challenging tone.

You didn't think Vriska could even manage a smile that huge. "Straddle Sollux and kiss him for as long as you can hold your breath!" You shoved your palm to your forehead.

"You all just love to sexually harass me, don't you?" You received a few laughs for this comment.

"A-And what's the goddamn punishment if I don't again?" You don't think you've ever heard KK stutter before.

"You have to drink a Rainbow Smoothie!" The 'Rainbow Smoothie' thing was your idea. Since Eridan has such a vast plethora of random shit in his kitchen, you figured that as a punishment whoever dared you got to choose one item for each color and mix it up in a blender. You watched as KK's hand hit his own forehead.

"Vriska, I fucking hate you."

"Oh, I know!" She grinned. Karkat's face was once again a deep, dark, red. He stood up with a sigh and headed over to your spot on the couch. He hesitated when he stood next to you but then quickly straddled your hips and let his arms dangle over your shoulders as he leaned in. His eyes closed and once again you felt that tongue over your bottom lip, the nipping teeth. You weren't even kissing him back, nor were your eyes closed during this. He pulled away suddenly and took a quick breath in before jumping off you.

"Okay, okay, no more eating my boyfriend guys." You chuckled at ED's sudden declining of the advances towards you. "Mine." He crossed his arms over his chest and you pulled him over so he was sitting on your lap. You set your chin on his shoulder and wrapped your arms around his torso.

"Thanks, babe." You received a blushing glare from him at that and you grinned back broadly.

"Terezi, truth or dare?" Karkat looked to the red haired girl and she smiled.

"Dare!~"


	28. Chapter 28

After a night of truth or dare, during which Kanaya managed to down a whole Rainbow Smoothie without even gagging once and earned herself the nickname of the Rainbow Drinker, most people fell asleep in the living room. You, however, had picked up a sleeping Eridan and carried him upstairs to find the sheets you had thrown in the wash earlier folded and resting on his bed. You set him down in his computer chair and quickly made the bed, a smirk on your face as you remember certain previous events. When you turn around to pick him up again and place him in his now covered bed you're a bit surprised to see him awake. He rubs at one of his eyes and damn if that isn't one of the most adorable things you've ever seen. "Hey, sleeping beauty, awake already?"

"You're stronger than I thought, Sol. You actually carried me up here?" His voice is laced with a sleepy tone. He stands up and wraps his arms around you, his face nuzzling into your neck. You put your arms around him as well and smile at his soft hair on your neck.

"Why yes, yes I did. I also just made your bed for you so you wouldn't have to sleep on a bare mattress but if you want to stand her and hug me I won't mind too much." You close your eyes and lean back on the bed a bit, tiredness finally catching up with you. Through a yawn you managed to mention that, "But I might fall asleep and then you'd have to hold me up all night." He pulls away with a sleep-filled smile. After taking his glasses off and setting them on the bedside table he steals yours off your face and sets them down as well. You expect him to then move around you and climb onto the bed but instead he kisses you. It's a slow, passionate kiss that includes his fingers tangling in the back of your hair. You place your hands on the small of his back and sigh contently without your lips ever leaving his. Your eyes were shut until you heard something drop in the hallway. You immediately pull away and walk over to the door you forgot to close. "I'll be right back, ED. Go to sleep, okay?" You hear some kind of noise of agreement from him before you shut the door behind you.

"I can't believe you fucking let him kiss you like that." Karkat's up. This should be fun, right?

"Well he **is** my boyfriend." You lean against the wall by ED's door and watch KK carefully.

He places his head in his hands and shakes it. "I've known you for years, for five fucking years to be exact. Want to know how many of those I've been in love with you for?" You stay silent, an apologetic frown the only movement your mouth makes. "Four. I've been waiting to meet you to finally fucking tell you for four fucking years and then after knowing you in person for, what was it, three days? Maybe a weekend somewhere in there? Screw it! After a matter of days you and that hipster douche are head over heels for each other like in one of my goddamn romcoms!" He looks up from his hands now. You expected tears but instead you get the most distraught and confused look you've ever been given. "I know everything, literally **_every last goddamn thing_**, about you. What does he know? The answers to a few questions he asked? I tried hinting at it in every way I could possibly think of through Trollian, while texting you, anyway I could talk to you. You're just so fucking **_oblivious_** sometimes! And then there's this fucking **_prick_** who just suddenly shows up on his shiny purple fucking seahorse and sweeps you off your feet and you just-"

"Stop," you force it out. Your throat is dry and your head is starting to hurt. "Just… Just stop… Please…" You slide down the wall until you're sitting with your knees in front of you. You close your eyes and lean your head back against the wall. "Jegus, KK, do you ever stop talking to let anyone speak or do you only do this to me?" He doesn't answer. With a sigh and a hazily tired brain, you respond to his rant. "So to answer your questions: yes I did want to know; actually it only took one day; and lastly, it doesn't really take much to know me, KK. I fall into various computer geek stereotypes." Wow, your lisp is prominent right now. You figure it might have something to do with either the now splitting headache or the fact that you're tired as fuck but whatever. "KK, I do love you. Just not in the way I love ED. I'm sorry but," you sigh, "I just can't see you as anything more than my best friend. I think of you as another brother, actually. ED, he's… it's a different feeling around him, I guess. I don't feel like sitting around, playing video games and chugging energy drinks all day like I do with you. I just… I don't know how to explain it KK and I'm sorry for that but I'm also sorry if I led you to believe I returned your feelings." You shove a palm to your forehead. "I felt like a dick before and now I feel like a fucking sappy dick." You were shocked by the sudden chuckle that came from the short boy sitting across from you. You smile and stand up. You hold out a hand to help him up which he gratefully accepts. "All better then, KK?"

He frowns now and then stares at the ground. "Okay, actually, I have one request and then I promise not to bother you about this anymore, scouts honor." He does a two finger salute to you and you tilt your head. "Um… w-will you… just… kind of…" He takes a deep breath, "Will you kiss me how you kissed Eridan a minute ago? I just… I want to know what it's like at least…"

You roll your eyes but nod understandingly. "Yeah, okay, come here idiot." He takes a step closer to you and initiates the kiss the same way Eridan had, hands in your hair and all. You had to lean down for him a bit, but then you let your hands rest on the small of his back just like before with Eridan. It doesn't feel right to you, but oh well. It's just once for Karkat's peace of mind you guess. You pull away after about the same amount of time as you had kissed Eridan and he drops his hands. You ruffle his hair, "Night, KK."

You walk into ED's room and shut the door behind you with an air of finality.


	29. An End To It All

You're woken up to pressure on your stomach.

Your eyes flutter open quickly as a gentle kiss is placed on your lips. When Eridan pulls away you roll your eyes at him. "You had to sit on me to do that?"

Your hipster boyfriend grins, "Well a course I did, Sol." He pecks your lips quickly. "I wanted you to actually wake up."

You chuckle at this and groan when you do, "I can't laugh when you're straddling me." He laughs and sits next to you instead. You sit up and lean over him a little, a deep kiss helping you to inch him back against the blankets as you straddle him now. When you sit back up and smile he shoots you a slight glare.

"How dare you make me want you when there's company downstairs? That's just cruel, Sol, cruel." You laugh.

Leaning down to his ear, you whisper, "Who knows? Maybe they'd like hearing it…" You nibble gently on the top his ear and let him squirm underneath you.

"Y-You're just evil, Sol. Straight up evil at this point." You lean back and grin at him.

"Well of course! That's my job, ED. My evilness pays the bills. It keeps a roof over our heads and food on the table for our children." He snorts at your sarcasm and you chuckle. You roll off of him and stand. "Ready to re-greet the masses?" He frowns and sits up so he can see himself in his mirror.

"Not with my hair like this I'm not." You quickly slide your hands through his hair a few times to reorient it.

"Better?"

He frowns a little, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Good." You grab his hand and pull him up so he's standing. Your fingers stay entwined with his as you walk down the stairs. You find quite a few people awake, but not yet everyone. Nepeta apparently managed to cuddle with Karkat in her sleep, though you're not sure why she'd want to. Tavros fell asleep literally using Gamzee as a body pillow. Feferi, Terezi, Kanaya, and Vriska all managed to be laying on one another in some way or another. And now you're trying not to laugh at the fidgety Karkat trying to free himself from the sleeping shipper's cuddly wrath, a still high Gamzee trying to get a stuttering Tavros to stay laying down, and the four girls all giggling at their interesting sleeping positions. It's quite the sight. Eventually the group notices you and Eridan walking down the stairs, "the group" consisting of Vriska and Vriska alone.

"Heeeeeeeey, gayboys! Here to make us breakfast then? Oh, oh, don't forget your aprons, okay?" She let out her cackling laugh.

Feferi tapped her gently on the back of her head, "Bad Vriska! Be nice!" You think the cackling girl muttered something along the lines of 'no promises' but you aren't quite sure. "Besides, I'm going to make you all breakfast!" She grinned proudly. Eridan smiled and shook his head with a small laugh.

"Fef, no offense, but your cooking is usually terrible." He arched his eyebrows in an apologetic manner.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Eridan! I'm only going to use the waffle maker!" You smirk when he sighs a little in relief. Feferi bounces up and into the kitchen and quite a few of you crowd around the table and the bar stools near her. All you can hear around you is the chatter and laughter of your new friends as Feferi tries to create something edible.

…

"Sollux, you're family now. Of course you can move in."

You smile at Raymon and Cecile, your new legal guardians. Latula pulled a few strings for you when your father went to jail. She made sure you wouldn't be shoved in foster care and got to stay with Eridan. You thank the fact that she's in love with your older brother. "Really? You guys don't mind?"

"Not one bit, sweetheart!" Cecile kissed your forehead and you smiled. You actually had parents now.

Suddenly Eridan grabbed a hold of your hand and gave a fake pout. "Hey. He's mine. You can't have him." He stuck his tongue out at his mom and you laughed. The next thing you knew you were being escorted upstairs to the bedroom that you and Eridan now shared. As soon as the door was closed, he wrapped his arms around you with a sigh. "I'm so fuckin' happy that I don't have to lose you…" He looked up at you from his slightly shorter than you viewpoint and smiled. "I love you, Sol."

You leaned down a little and kissed him quickly. "I love you too, ED." The question on the back of your mind started to press forward. "Hey, ED, what happens if you, well, stop loving me?"

Your question was greeted with the biggest and warmest smile you think you've ever seen. "Sol, I'll always love you. But I have one condition."

"What's that?"

"Just be you."


End file.
